Firuz Kanatlı (1932 – 18 October 2017) was a Turkish businessman and founder and honorary president of the well known company Eti. He was born in

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

, Turkey in 1932. He attended primary school until the third school year, after which he went to

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and graduated from there. He studied business administration at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

in Switzerland. When he returned home, he started to work in his father's flour mill, the "Gümülcineli Flour Mill". The factory would later be renamed to "Kanatlı Flour Mill". The dream of establishing his own business lead Kanatlı to search for a work branch. His grandparents' first millstone-flour mill "

Gümülcine Komotini (, , ), is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece and its capital. It is also the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-prefecture until its abolition in 2010 ...

" (Turkish for

Komotini Komotini (, , ), is a city in the Modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece and its capital. It is also the capital of the Rhodope (regional unit), Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope- ...

, a city in East Macedonia and Thrace of Greece) led him to reconnect with his family history, and led him to the idea to produce pasta. As sugar was easy to find in the sugar refinery nearby, he decided to branch out into the cookie business. The only cookie brands in Turkey at the time were "Arı", "

Ülker Ülker is a Turkish multinational food and beverage manufacturer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Its products are exported internationally, to 110 countries. Ülker's core products are biscuits, cookies, crackers, and chocolates, although it has ex ...

", "Besler", "Haylayf" and "İdeal", whose factories were all in Istanbul. His business brought cookie production to Central Anatolia. He wanted to bring his business onto the market under the name'' Bal'' (Honey), which had its trademark rights claimed by another business. He opted to create the brand under "Eti" (Turkish for

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

) instead, and began production under the name in 1962.

Personal life

Firuz Kanatlıs wife Gülay Kanatlı died on 4 August 2015 at the age of 73.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanatlı, Firuz 1932 births People from Eskişehir Galatasaray High School alumni University of Geneva alumni Turkish businesspeople 2017 deaths