Curator,
researcher-author, politician (B. 24 June 1861, Istanbul – D. 1938, Istanbul).
He is the son of Grand Vizier İbrahim Edhem Pasha and brother of painter Osman
Hamdi Bey and expert of ancient coins İsmail Galip Bey. He started his secondary
education in Kaptan İbrahim Pasha Secondary School and completed it having a chemistry
and biology education in 1875 in Berlin
where he was because of his father’s ambassador position. Later he continued to
University of Zurich
for one year and studied in Vienna
Polytechnic Institute, having an education on geology and
chemistry (1881-84). Besides he made a PhD in Switzerland
Berne University,
Faculty of Philosophy and returned to Istanbul
in 1885.
Upon his
return to Turkey
he was assigned to vice ministry of military factories. Four years later he
passed to the translation branch of Erkân-ı Harbiyye-i
Umumiyye (General Staff).
Apart from his official duties he taught in various schools. He taught between
1885- 93 in Dârüşşafakati’l-İslâmiyye, in 1887 in Mekteb-i Mülkiye (Civil Service School) , in 1900 in Dârülmuallimîn
(Boys Training School), and one year later in Dârülfünun (Istanbul University)
mineralogy, geology and chemistry. In 1892 he was appointed Director of Museums
and Fine Arts Academy. He took part during the transformation of Topkapı Palace into a museum.
In 1919
when he was Director of National Museums, he revealed Piri Reis’ Map, which is
one of the unique treasures of Topkapı
Palace. Meanwhile he
published a small book upon the earthquake in Istanbul
dated 1894, with the title “Hareket-i Arza Dair Birkaç Söz” (Istanbul 1312). One of
his important successes in this field which made his name pass to the
literature is his discovery of two new fossils named after him, during the
excavations around Gebze he did with his teacher from Vienna Fr. Toula.
Halil Edhem was assigned to vice directorate of Âsâr-ı
Atika Müze-i Hümayunu (Museum of Eastern Antiquities) in 1892. After the second constitutional period
(1908) he was assigned in Istanbul
Municipality (1 August
1909). However, he resigned from this duty which was very boring for him (19
January 1910). He was one of the founder members of Istanbul Antiquities Lovers
Association which was established under the presidency of Grand Vizier Said
Halim Pasha in order to prevent the antiquity massacre done in Istanbul. This association was closed in the
years of 1st World War. It was replaced by the Commission of
Antiquities established by the Ministry of Education and Halil Edhem was
appointed its president. 1913 yılında, Cumhuriyet döneminde Türk
Tarihi Encümeni (Türk Tarih Kurumu)’ne dönüştürülen Tarih-i Osmanî
Encümeni’nin üyeliğine seçildi. In
1913 he was chosen to membership of Ottoman History Commission, which would
later be turned into Turkish Historical Society in the republic period. He
published numerous articles in Tarih-i Osmanî Encümeni Mecmuası” and ”Türk Tarih Encümeni Mecmuası” which were the press organs of this
institute about Turkish history. He also reviewed and introduced books
published in the West. During his museum directorate he continued his duty in
this commission which was established by his effort and joined its meetings as
a member after his retirement in 1931.
He made a presentation in 1932 about the maintenance
and protection of antiquities in the 1st Turkish History Congress
organized in Istanbul, Dolmabahçe Palace.
In 1933 he was assigned to vice presidency of Turkish History Association.
Meanwhile upon the request of Atatürk he participated to preparation works of
the book titled “Türk Tarihinin Ana Hatları” and wrote the chapter “Anadolu
Selçukluları Devrinde Mimarî ve
Tezyini Sanatlar” of the fourth sample fascicle for
this great book.
Halil Edhem Bey was elected prime minister from Istanbul in the year he
was retired and kept his position for two periods. He never interrupted his
connection with Darüşşafaka Society he deeply loved and became sometimes
president and other times a member in the executive board of this institution.
He was closely interested in antiquities since he was administrating Museum of Oriental Antiquities as a vice director
and a director, however, this did not cause him to neglect Islamic-Turkish
artifacts. His first publication in this field is titled “Arap ve Arap-Bizantin ve Osmanlı Kurşun
Mühürler Kataloğu” (Istanbul
1309). In 1915 he published subsequently “Kayseriye
Şehri: Mebânî-i Islâmiyye ve Kitabeleri” (Istanbul 1334) which is still used as a
reference book.
He attempted to prepare a large edition of the first
Islamic tablets in Anadolu together with Max van Berchem, the first specialist
of Arabic language and epigraphy in Europe.
This work would be a corpus and introduce Arabic building tablets in various
fascicles categorized due to regions. However, upon the disorder and defeat of
1st World War this great attempt was left incomplete after the
publication of two fascicles. His first publication in republic period is a
small book titled “Elvâh-ı Nakşiyye
Koleksiyonu” (Istanbul
1924) which is about history of Turkish painting and painters. His interest in
ancient coins made Halil Edhem prepare a very useful bibliography work, “İslâmî Nümizmatik İçin Bir Bibliyografya
Tecrübesi” (Ankara
1932), after his retirement. Later he published his tractate titled “Mısır’ın
Son Memlûk Sultanı Melik Tomanbay II Adına Çorlu’da Bulunan Bir Kitabe” (Ankara 1935).
Apart from these, Halil Edhem also published picture
books without any scientific claim and which addressed large mass of people.
Later a book of him titled “Topkapı
Sarayı” (Istanbul 1931) was published, which
provides general information on Topkapı
Palace assisted by numerous pictures
provided by Sebah-Joaillier, the most famous photographer’s studio in Istanbul at that time and
which was also translated into French. Besides, a small picture book titled “Yedikule
Hisarı” (Istanbul 1931) and “Camilerimiz” (Istanbul 1932) were published. Halil Bey’s another
booklet which addressed large mass of people is “Niğde Kılavuzu”
(Istanbul
1936).
Halil Edhem Eldem was elected as an honorary member in
1892 by the Russian Geology-Anthropology and Ethnography Institute, in 1895 by
the German Archeology Institute, in 1899 by the Austrian Archeology Institute,
in 1904 by the Greek Archeology Institute and in 1933 by the Historical
Artifacts Institute of Sydney. He was granted in 1931 the title of emeritus
professor by Istanbul Darülfünunu (University), in 1933 honorary PhD by Leipzig University. Halil Edhem Eldem passed
away on the 17th of November 1938. After his death Turkish History
Association published a commemoration book of two volumes in his name titled “Halil
Edhem Hâtıra Kitabı” (I-Il
Ankara 1947-1948).
Eldem is an important figure of Turkish cultural
history which was active during the last periods of Ottoman
Empire and by the beginning of the republic period. In terms of
his education, he was not an expert of antiquities. However, he gained this
skill from his brother Osman Hamdi Bey and became a perfect curator, besides a
decent expert of Turkish-Islamic coins and epigraphs. His effort to develop
Turkish museology has to be mentioned especially. Besides, he gathered many
manuscripts from different places and took them under protection, which was an
unforgettable service of him. His considerable service to Turkish-Islamic
history consists primarily of translation S. Lane-Poole’s important book,
extending it with supplements, collected hundreds of manuscripts in Anatolia and published them. Apart from these, in spite
of various difficulties he made efforts to protect and recover Turkish
architectural artifacts, published articles and books and finally in the last
years of his life, he wrote some small books introducing historical artifacts
of Istanbul to
a large mass of people.
MAIN WORKS:
ANALYSIS:
Osmanlı Meskâlâtı ve Kurşun Mühürler Kataloğu (Istanbul 1309), Arap ve Arap-Bizantin ve Osmanlı Kurşun
Mühürler Kataloğu (Istanbul 1309), Sivas ve Divriği Şehirlerinin İslâmî
Kitabeleri (1719), Kayseri Şehri (1916), Elvâh-ı Nakşiyye Koleksiyonu
(İstanbul 1924), Düvel-i İslâmiye Tarihi Topkapı Sarayı (1931), Yedikule
Hisarı, Camilerimiz (1932), Kitabeler Nasıl Kayıt ve Zaptolunmalıdır? (1940),
Halil Edhem Hâtıra Kitabı Cilt I (1947), Kayseri Şehri / Selçuklu
Tarihinden Bir Bölüm (Ed.: Kemal Göde, 1982), Trabzon’da Osmanlı
Kitabeleri (2001).
TRANSLATION: Nos Mosquees de
Stamboul (From E. Mamboury, 1934).
REFERENCE: Halil Edhem Hâtıra
Kitabı (I-II, 1947-48), Rakım Ziyaoğlu / İstanbul Kadıları – Şehreminleri - Belediye Reisleri (s.
172-176, 1971), Türkiye Ansiklopedisi (1974, c.3, s.1103), Fahri Çöker / Türk Tarih Kurumu (s. 233-253, 1983),
L. A. Mayer / “Halil Edhem Eldem
1861-1938 (Almanak VI, 1968),
Reşat Ekrem Koçu / “Halil Edhem” (İstanbul
Ansiklopedisi IX, c. 9, 1958-74), Semavî Eyice / “Eldem, Halil Ethem” (Türkiye
Diyanet Vakfı İslam Ansiklopedisi (c. 11, s. 18-21, 1995), İhsan Işık / Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi
(2001, 2004) - 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), http://www.camlicakitap.com/kitap/yedikita-dergisi-77-sayi-ocak-2015-1407,
http://yedikita.com.tr/basin/fihrist/files/assets/common/downloads/publication.pdf,
http://www.sabah.com.tr/kultur_sanat/2015/01/06/osmanli-arsivi-nasil-kurtarildi,
Okkası 3 Kuruşa Satılan tarih Var (Yedikıta Dergisi, Sayı: 77, Sayfa: 20,Ocak
2015), Osmanlı Arşivi Yok Olmaktan Nasıl Kurtarıldı? (sadakatforum.com, 7 Mart
2016).