Sadi Gülçelik (22 October 1930–19 August 1980) was a Turkish

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and entrepreneur.

Biography

Sadi Gülçelik was born in

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 ...

, Turkey on 22 October 1930. He played for Galatasaray Volleyball and

Galatasaray Basketball Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, which was nicknamed "The invincible Armada" (). Gülçelik was also part of the basketball teams Karagücü and Modaspor. He participated at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland. He scored 206 points in total for the

Turkey national basketball team The Turkey men's national basketball team () represents Turkey in international basketball tournaments. They are governed by the Turkish Basketball Federation. Their nickname is the ''12 Dev Adam'', meaning 12 Giant Men. Turkey has competed a ...

. He graduated from

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

as a civil engineer and established Enka Construction Co. with his brother-in-law

Şarık Tara Şarık Tara (born Šarik Hadžihamzić; 22 April 1930 – 28 June 2018) was a Turkish billionaire who founded Enka İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş., one of Turkey's largest construction company, with Sadi Gülçelik, in 1957. As well as being an interna ...

in 1957. Gülçelik died in an

air disaster An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, Saudi Arabia, on 19 August 1980. A sports complex, Enka Sadi Gülçelik Spor Sitesi, in

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer al ...

, Istanbul, is named in his honor.

References

1929 births Basketball players from Istanbul Istanbul Technical University alumni Turkish civil engineers Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Turkish men's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Turkey Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Gülcelik, Sadi Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Saudi Arabia 1980 deaths 20th-century Turkish engineers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1980 20th-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-engineer-stub