Educator, linguist, historian and
politician (B. 4 January 1873, Bodrum / Muğla – D. 8 August 1961, Istanbul). He
is from a Jewish family which raised famous rabbis starting from the 16th
century. His father Mişon Galanti Efendi who served to the Ottoman Empire for
about forty years, his mother Coya Hanım from Kadron family of Rhodes. In some
of his articles in French language he used the name Abraham Galanti. At the age
of six he started primary school in Bodrum and learnt essentials of Hebrew in
the first place. At the age of nine he was sent to Rhodes which had a wider
Jewish community and better education possibilities. After completing primary
school in 1887 he continued to Bodrum Middle School and later to Izmir High
School. After his graduation from high school he learnt Hebrew, Turkish,
Persian and French. In the next years he added German, English and Arabic to
these languages.
Avram Galanti went to Rhodes in 1894
as a high school teacher and established a school here with the support of
Alliance Israelite Universelle and Jewish community of Rhodes. Later, since
French language had more importance in the educational program of these
Alliance schools, he started to struggle to give more importance to Turkish
language with some other Jewish intellectuals. Although he could not change the
general attitude of the administration of Alliance, he made it possible that
schools in Rhodes offered a Turkish education. Meanwhile he was interested in
the new educational level of the Ottoman Empire and he published a notable
series of essays in “Hizmet” newspaper titled “Maarifimiz Ne Yolda Terakki Edebilir?”. While he was teaching in
Rodos High School, he was responsible of censoring publications abroad, which
criticized Abdülhamid II’s personality and policy for six years on behalf of
the government. At the same time he was inspector of Mediterranean Algerian
State (Twelve Islands) on behalf of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Again
while he was in Rhodes, he built communications with numerous Turkish
intellectuals such as Poet Eşref who was sent to exile to Rhodes. He became
member of a secret cell of Society of Union and Progress. However, since he was
the official censor of Abdülhamid II rule was not in accordance with this
membership, so he resigned after a while.
Galanti left Rhodes in 1902 and
settled to Izmir. He continued teaching. Besides he wrote critiques in the “Ljamîa” newspaper, which was published
in Izmir in Hebrew and in some French newspapers in order to impress extremely
conservative Ottoman Jewish community. Some people who were disturbed by this,
informed Abdülhamid II government accusing him of being an opponent. He also
had decided to struggle with Abdülhamid government since he supported the Young
Turks earlier. In 1904 he left Izmir and joined the Young Turks in Egypt. He
started to published “La’Vara”
newspaper in Cairo (1905).Using the freedom of being away from the
Jewish community’s and Ottoman government’s pressures he continuously
criticized the administration of the Jewish community, especially the chief
rabbi. Meanwhile he wrote articles in accordance with the thought of İttihat
ve Terakki Society in the “Progrès” newspaper, which was published
in French language.
In these years he established a secret association called Mısır Cem‘iyyet-i İsrâiliyye and organized Ottoman Jews in exile. In 1907 he met Ahmet Rıza Bey, leader of Young Turks in Europe during his visit to Cairo. He promised him to enable the support of Le Comité İsraélite du Caire established by the Jews of Cairo who spoke French for the 2nd Young Turks Congress, which would gather in Paris. In these years he continued writing in newspapers of “Meşveret”, “ Şûrâ-yi Ümmet”, “Şûra-yi Osmânî” and “Doğru Söz”. On the 23rd of July 1908 the 2nd Constitutional Period was declared and he closed “La Vara” newspaper, which was also the end of his political activities.
Avram Galanti left Egypt on the 14th of July 1909. To take the result of his suggestion to establish a Jewish settlement center in Sudan he went to England and Germany. Meanwhile he received the news about the death of his opponent chief rabbi Moşe Ha Levi and the establishment of Darülfünün-ı Osmanî (Istanbul University), accordingly he moved to Istanbul by the end of 1911 in order to stay there permanently. Since certain teachers were brought from Germany in 1914 for the reorganization of Darülfünun he was assigned as translator and assistant of G. Bergstrâsser, a professor of Semitic languages and cultures. In the same time he started to work as a secretary in Red Crescent and wrote articles in “Hilâl-i Ahmer” newspaper for three years. Together with Bergstrâsser he prepared the work “Elsine-i Sâmiy-ye Tarihi”. His articles of research and analysis were published in journals such as “Yeni Mecmua”, “Büyük Mecmua” and “Dârülfünun Edebiyat Fakültesi Mecmuası”. Besides he translated some Ottoman archive documents published in “Tarih-i Osmanî Encümeni Mecmuası” which concerned Ottoman Jews directly, into French.
Galanti Efendi was invited to USA to
organize Safarad Jews who settled to USA but he did not go. When German
teachers were discharged from their positions in 1918 he replaced Bergstrasser
being assigned to his chair as an academic member, first with the title of
“teacher” and later “lecturer” in order to teach “Tarih-i akvam-ı kadime-i
şarkıyye”. He did not internalize the Zionist though which started in Europe
during these years and which aimed to establish an independent Jewish state,
but he leant towards the establishment of a national state in Palestine under
the rule of chief rabbi Haim Nahum and under the rule and administration of
Ottomans. When he noticed that some Jews were among the minorities who requested the protection of
allied forces after the Treaty of Mondros (30 October 1918), he articulated the loyalty of Jewish people to
the Ottoman Empire in newspapers. In the years of National Struggle he
translated daily press bulletins in foreign languages into Turkish and
submitted them to Mustafa Kemal and his friends. After the declaration of the
republic he wrote books and articles against the revolution of alphabet basing
on various linguistic sorrows. Since he was taken out of the cadre with the
1933 university reform, his professorship ended. When the act of surname was
introduced in 1934 he took the surname Bodrumlu. In 1943 he was elected as a Parliament
Member from Niğde. In this period he published “Ankara Tarihi”
(I-II, Istanbul 1950-1951) and “Niğde ve Bor Tarihi” using the archive
of Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
His parliament membership ended
after the elections of 1946 and he returned from Ankara to Istanbul and settled
to Kınalıada. After a long period of sickness he died on the 8th of
August 1961. He was inhumed to Arnavutköy Jewish Cemetery. Aside from his
Turkish works he also has some French works.
MAIN WORKS:
LANGUAGE: Küçük
Türk Tetebbular (1925), Türkçede Arabî ve Latin Harfleri ve İmlâ
Meseleleri (1925), Arabî Harfleri Terakkimize Mâni Değildir (1927),
Vatandaş Türkçe Konuş Yahut Türkçenin Tâmimi Meselesi (1928).
HISTORY: Hammurabi Kanunu (1925), Hitit Kanunu (1931), Asur
Kanunu (1933).
MONOGRAPHY: Bodrum
Tarihi (1945), Bodrum Tarihine Ek, Ankara Tarihi (1950), Niğde
ve Bor Tarihi (1951).
RESEARCH-ANALYSIS: Türk - Müslüman ve Yahudi
İlişkileri: Üç Sâmî Vâzı-ı Kânûn: Hamurabi - Mûsâ - Muhammed (1927), Türkler ve Yahudiler (1927, 1995), Fâtih Sultan Mehmed Zamanında İstanbul
Yahudileri (1945), Türk Harsı ve Türk
Yahudisi (1953), Türkler ve Yahudiler
Eserlerine Ek (İstanbul 1954), Türklük
İncelemeleri (2005).
FRENCH: Don Joseph Nassi, Duc de Naxos
(1913), Esther Kyra (1926), Documents officiels turcs concernant les
juifs de Turquie (1931-1954), Nouveau documents sur Sabbetai Sevi (1935), Histoire des juifs d'Anatolie
(1937- 1939, appendix 1948), Histoire des juifs d'Istanbul
(1-11, 1941-1942). His French works were
republished as a corpus in nine volumes as a facsimile under the title Histoire des juifs de
Turquie (1985-1986).
REFERENCE: Rıfat N. Bali /
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (c. 13, s. 296-297, İstanbul 1996),
Arslan Tekin / Edebiyatımızda İsimler ve Terimler (2. bas. 1999), Üç Sami Kanun
Koyucusu (Kitap Rehberi, Kasım 2002), İhsan Işık /
Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi
(2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) - Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri
Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).