Businessman and founder of the Izmir Paper Mill and
the paper industry in Turkey. He is the son of the Lieutenant Commander Ahmet
Bey. He was born in 1899 in Istanbul, Heybeliada. He finished his primary
education in Heybeliada. After finishing the İstanbul Erkek High School, he
graduated from the Science Faculty of the University of Istanbul by obtaining
the diploma of chemistry and the certificates of Mineralogy and General
Mathematics. After his graduation, he worked as an assistant in the Institute
of Chemistry and as a teacher of chemistry in the Marine School. Later on, he
went to Germany and worked in the factories of cellulose and paper mills in
this country for a while. By passing from Germany to France, he entered into
the paper institute in Grenoble and continued his education. He took his
diploma of paper engineering in the first rank from the School of Paper
Engineering of the Grenoble University in 1927.
After returning to the hometown, while Mehmet Ali
Kağıtçı worked as a chemist in the laboratory of the Haseki Hospital, as a
lecturer in the Yüksek Levazım School, as an Industrial Inspector in the
Ministry of Economics, as a teacher of chemistry in the Yüksek Ticaret School, and
as a specialist chemist in the foundation of the Ticarî Tahliller Laboratory, he also concurrently made a continuous effort for the
foundation of the paper industry in our country.
The fact that he finished the French
School of Paper Engineering of the Grenoble
University with the first degree in 1927, took the attention of the French. He
received an important job offer from Papeteries de France, an important company
of France in that period. However, he refused this offer and he also refused the
offer repeated by means of the Consulate General in Istanbul, by giving his
acknowledgments. Despite the insistence of Müfit Özdeş, who was his family
friend and who was also someone in the immediate vicinity of Atatürk, saying
“Accept the invitation! They will not know your value here. Don’t be a fool…”,
he didn’t change his mind.
The articles, which he published in
the newspaper Vakit for the aim of
making accepted the idea of founding the Turkish paper industry, made an
impact. Behçet Bey, who was the Tütün İnhisarı İdaresi Umum Müdürü
Behçet Bey (T.N. General
Manager of the Exclusive Administration of Tobacco), asked for his help for the
paper and carton factory that was planned to be founded. Kağıtçı, who found the
opportunity to realize his mission, was happy. However, his happiness was
pointless. The undersecretary of economics cancelled the tender on the day of
the tender and the project was postponed.
Meanwhile, the representatives of
the Central and Northern Europe paper cartels selling paper to Turkey brought
new collaboration offers to him. He refused these offers. While he was in a situation
in which he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, the General Manager
of İş Bank, Celal Bayar showed him the light he was waiting for. With the
support of Celal Bayar, the government published the legal decision concerning
the foundation of the paper industry in 10 July 1934. This time, the ones who
created barriers and made oppositions entered in an effort to make the factory
constructed in their region. The place was selected to be İzmit.
Thereby, Mehmet Ali Kâğıtçı prepared the projects of our factories of
cellulose and paper mills that entered into the first industrial program of
five years. He started the implementation of his projects immediately after
this initiative passed to Sümerbank. The president of the republic, İsmet İnönü
laid the foundation of the first paper mill on 14th August 1934 when
the machines ordered from Europe arrived. The Paper Mill of İzmit was opened at
the end of 1936 and the foundation of the second factories of cellulose and
paper mills are laid in the same day. It was again Mehmet Ali Kâğıtçı who realized its projects and the mounting
of its machines. The first Turkish made page of paper was in the hand of Mehmet Ali Kâğıtçı on 18th
April 1936.
Apart from these, Mehmet Ali Kâğıtçı founded the
department of preparation of kaolin and by determining that the needed raw
material could be procured from the village Seyitömer near Kütahya, he bought
the privilege of the kaolin element in this region in the name of the company.
Mehmet Ali Kâğıtçı directed the Paper Mill of İzmit,
that he founded, for seven years. He left this place in 1941 because of their difference
of opinions with Sümerbank and he worked in the Directorate of the İstanbul Belediyesi
Kimyahanesi Müdürlüğü (T.N. Chemical
Laboratory of the Municipality of Istanbul) starting from the year 1942. He
passed away on 1st October 1982 in Istanbul.
