Historian and
politician (b. 1890, Sterlitamak / Bashkiria– d. 26 July 1970, İstanbul). He graduated from Ötek Madrasah
Theology School,
Gayri Russian
School and Kazan University.
He gave lessons in Arab literature and Turkish history at Muslim
Theology School
in Kasimiye (Kazan) and Osmaniye (Ufa).
In the last period of Tsarist Russia (1916), he was selected to the Duma
(advisory council to the Tzar) as the representative of the Ufa Muslims. After
the revolution he became the president of Bashkiria
(1920). However, after a short time, he had conflicts with the soviet
administration and continued his resistance in Turkistan.
When he was not able to attain the objective that he expected, he moved first
to Paris, then Berlin
and finally to Turkey.
He was appointed to İstanbul
University, Faculty of
Literature as a general Turkish history teacher in 1927. However, because of
his ideas against official history doctrine he was dismissed (1932). Thus, he
went to Vienna
and completed his PhD. His PhD thesis was "İbn-i
Fadlan'ın Seyahatnamesi" (The Travel Book of İbn-i Fadlan). He gave
lectures on Islamic Sciences at Bonn and Göttingen Universities
in Germany
(1935-39) after he had completed his PhD.
He worked at İstanbul University
when he returned to Turkey.
Meanwhile he was questioned and charged with wishing to establish a government
based on Turan thought. When he was acquitted, he continued his work at his
university. During this period, he founded the Islamic Research Institution and
published many works on Islamic Civilization and Turkish History.
He bought the
private library of Prof. Nikolay Katinov (1862-1922) who was a Sagay (southern Mongolia) Turk and his teacher when he was in Kazakhstan and he brought this library to Turkey. That
library is housed at the Turkology Institution today. Togan did research on
history, literature and ethnography in Fergana
and Buhara in the name of the History, Geography and Ethnography Association of
the university in which he was educated. During this research, he discovered a
new manuscript by Kaşgarlı Mahmud named Kutadgu
Bilig, which is considered one of the most important sources of Turkish
literature. He is known for his valuable scientific research on Islamic and
Turkish history and civilization.
WORKS:
Bugünkü Türkili ve Yakın Tarihi (Turkey Today
and its Recent History, 1942), Umumi Türk
Tarihine Giriş I (Introduction to General Turkish History I, 1946), Tarihte Usul (Method in History, 1950), Horezmce Tercümeli Mukaddemet'ül Edep (Khorezmien
Glossary of the Mukaddemat’ül Edep, 1951),
Hatıralar (Memoirs, 1969), Türklüğün
Mukadderatı Üzerine (The Fate of the Turkish, 1970), Oğuz Destanı (The Oghuz Legend, translation and analysis of the
Oghuz Book of Reşidettin, 1972).
REFERENCE:
60. Doğum Yılı Münasebetiyle Zeki Velidi Togan’a Armağan (1950-55), Ahmed Zeki
Velidi Togan Özel Sayısı (Erzurum Atatürk Ü. Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Araştırma
Dergisi, sayı: 13, Erzurum 1985), Ahmed Zeki Velidi Togan / Hatıralar (1969),
Büyük Larousse (s. 11572, 11896; 1990), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990,
1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish
Authors (2005) - 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), Ertuğrul
Yaman / Türkiye’deki Türk Dünyası (A. K. Bolaç – A. Esatoğlu ile, 1998),
Necmettin Sefercioğlu / Zeki Velidi Togan (Orkun, Temmuz 1999), Hüdavendigar Onur
/ Türk Sağı Sözlüğü (2001).