Mithat Sertoğlu

Journalist and historian (b. 1913, İstanbul – d. 29 March 1995). He was the brother of journalist and writer Murat Sertoğlu. He belonged to a family from Sarajevo who settled first in Kozan and then in İstanbul in 1907. He finished his primary and elementary education in İstanbul. He graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Faculty of Turcology, Disciplines of Arabic and Persian Philology, History of Philosophy and Pedagogy and Didactics (1940). He worked for the newspapers Hergün, Haber, and Vatan beginning in his high school years (1933). He worked as a teacher of Turkish at Gedikpaşa Elementary School and a teacher of literature at Taksim High School. He became assistant director general (1956), and director general (1960) at the Office of the Prime Ministry, General Directorate of Public Records where he had begun as an employee in 1944. When he officially retired in 1973, he began to work for the review Hayat. He became head of publication at Hayat Tarih and later joined the newspaper Hürriyet in 1978 and then worked as press advisor of the review Yıllar Boyu Tarih, which he published. He left there in 1985 and worked as an advisor at the Office of the Prime Ministry General Directorate of Public Records. He devoted all his time to writing by leaving this job in March 1989. He is buried in Çamlıca Graveyard.

Sertoğlu, who spoke Arabic, Farsi, French and Serbian, was known by his studies related to Ottoman History. He lectured on Recent History, the History of Ottoman Civilization and Institutions at İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature for a while when he was serving at the Public Records Directorate (1961-71). About three thousand of his articles were published in Tanin, Son Posta, Son Telgraf, Tercüman, Akşam, Hürriyet, Yeni İstanbul, Tarih Dünyası, Resimli Tarih, Belgelerle Türk Tarihi, Hayat Tarih, Yıllar Boyu Tarih, Türk Kültürünü Araştırma, Türk Kültürü, Millî Kültür, Türk Edebiyatı, Türkiyat Mecmuası and T.T.K. Belleten. In Son Posta, Son Telgraf, Tercüman, Akşam his fifteen novels were serialized. His poems were published in 1994.

WORKS:

Tugi Tarihi (History of Tugi, 1947), Atatürk, Hayatı ve Şahsiyeti (Atatürk, His Life and Personality, 1953), Muhteva Bakımından Başbakanlık Arşivi (Upkeep of the Contents of the Prime Ministry Archives, 1955), Osmanlı Tarihi Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Ottoman History, 1958), Gazi Osman Paşa (Gazi Osman Paşa, 1964), Türk ve İslâm Tarihi (Turkish and Islam History, 5 Volumes, 1963-67), Mufassal Osmanlı Tarihi (Detailed Ottoman History, 5th and 6th volumes, 1962, 63), Büyük Atatürk (The Great Atatürk,1965), Resimli Büyük İstanbul Ansiklopedisi (The Great Illustrated İstanbul Encyclopedia, 1968), Peygamberler Tarihi (History of the Prophets, 1969), Evliyalar Tarihi (History of Muslim Saints, 1969), Türkiye'nin Problemleri (The Problems of Turkey, 1969), Osmanlı Sarayında Entrikalar Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Intrigues at the Ottoman Palace, 1970), Türk Zaferleri Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Turkish Victories, 1972), Osmanlı Padişahları (Ottoman Sultans, 1973), Tanzimat Devrimi (The Tanzimat* Revolution, 1973), Süryanî Türkleri Siyasî ve İçtimaî Tarihi (The Political and Social History of Suryani Turks,1 973), Osmanlı Türklerinde Tuğra (The Sultan’s Signature in the Ottoman Turks, 1975), Osmanlı Sarayı'nda Bir Gün (One Day at the Ottoman Palace, 1976), Fatih ve İstanbul'un Fethi (Fatih and The Conquest of İstanbul, with the name Fatih and Fetih - Conqueror and Conquest, 1986), Osmanlı Kıyafetleri (Ottoman Costumes, Fenerci Mehmed Album, 1986), Osmanlı Tarih Lügati (The Glossary of Ottoman History, 1987), Dördüncü Murad (Murad IV, 1987), İstanbul Sohbetleri (İstanbul Conversations, 1992), Ehl-i Sünnetin Altı İmamı (The Six Imams of Ehl-i Sünnet, 1994), Paşalar Şehri İstanbul (İstanbul, City of Paşas, 1993), Tarih Sohbetleri (History Conversations, 1994), Şiirler (Poems, 1994), Darüşşafaka Tarihi (History of the School for Orphans).