Haşim İşcan (1898

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

, Adrianople Vilayet – March 11, 1968,

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 ...

) was a Turkish high school teacher, province governor and the first elected

mayor of Istanbul The mayor of Istanbul is the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The mayor is elected popularly every five years. Nuri Aslan has served as interim mayor of Istanbul since 26 March 2025. This article covers the Ottoman Empire to the ...

Biography

He was born 1898 in

. After graduating from the School of Public Management in 1922, he became an instructor in the Edirne Teacher College for Girls and later in the Edirne High school. From 1933 on, Haşim İşcan served as a public administrator, beginning in districts and then as governor in several provinces, including Governor of Bursa Province (1945–1950Bursa Gazeteciler Cemiyeti
VALİ (Bursa valileri)
). Shortly before his retirement, he was appointed public director for settlement affairs. He was married to Atıfet İşcan.

Political career

In 1963, he entered politics with the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP), and was elected mayor of Istanbul. During his time in office, he accomplished major

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

projects in Istanbul, like broader streets and underpasses. He also contributed much to the development of cultural activities in the city. The beloved mayor was called "Father Haşim" by the residents. He died on March 11, 1968, in

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

caused by

intracranial hemorrhage Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) refers to any form of Hemorrhage, bleeding Internal bleeding, within the Human skull, skull. It can result from trauma, vascular abnormalities, hypertension, or other medical conditions. ICH is broadly categorized ...

. An underpass in Saraçhanebaşı, next to the Civic Center, is named in his memorial.

References

Sources

* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Haşim İşcan''
1898 births 1968 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Turkey People from Edirne People from Adrianople vilayet Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Governors of Bursa Mayors of Istanbul Turkish schoolteachers Turkish civil servants {{Turkey-mayor-stub