Ethnographer and
folklore researcher (b. 1897, Tilenkçi Tamak village / Minzele / Ufa /
İdil-Ural – d. 1984, Ankara). He was the son of Ubeydullah Efendi who was a
scholar of the period and Rızaeddin Fahreddin (close friend of Musa Carullah) a
famous scientist, was his brother-in-law. He was sent to Turkey with the
support of Rızaeddin Fahreddin for his education in 1909. He graduated from
Thessalonica Central Secondary School in 1911. At the start of Balkan War, he
returned to İstanbul when he was in Sultaniye. He finished Darülmuallimin (Teacher Training School) in 1916 and became a teacher. After attending courses on ethnography and
the Hungarian language at university for the winter semester, he went to
Hungary to continue his education where he completed pedagogy. He was accepted
to the Advanced Teachers Training School at Eötvöş Kollegium with the support
of Prof. Ne’meth Gyula. Then he attended the same university’s Faculty of
Philosophy and received the title of Doctor of Language and Turcology. He went
to Germany in 1924 to attend the courses of Prof. Bang Koup at Berlin
University and did research at the State Library and museums.
In 1925 he returned to
Turkey and worked at the Ministry of National Education. After working as the
Inspector of Libraries at the Ministry of Culture he was a director for the
Department of Culture, Antique Works and Libraries at the same ministry. He
continued as the General Director of Antique Works and Museums, board member of
Culture Training and for the second time as the Director of the Ethnography
Museum. He retired on 1st December 1969 after working for two years as Deputy
Director of the Ethnography Museum and Consulting General Director of Antique
Works and Museums.
The science committees
which Hamit Zübeyir Koşay was a member of and the positions he held were;
correspondent member of the Hungarian “Köröşi Csoma” Science Association,
member of the German Archeology Institute (1932), correspondent member of the
Czech-Prague Eastern Institute (1933), correspondent member of the Academy of
the Kingdom of Sweden “Witterhats” History and Antique Works (1939),
correspondent member of the Finnish Association of Archeology (1939), the
permanent honorable member of the International Union of Prehistoric and
Proto-historic Sciences. (1964, Rome), founding member of the Turkish
Historical Society (23 April 1930), founding committee member of the Turkish
Language Association, member of the Turkish and Islamic Arts Institute (1955),
science committee member of the Turkish Cultural Research Institute, honorary
member of the Turkish Librarian Associations and the Turkey National Committee
and Head of the International Museums Council (1957-1965).
WORKS:
EXCAVATION REPORTS: Kumtepe Kazısı (Kumtepe Excavation with I. Sprerling, 1934), Türk Tarih Kurumu Tarafından Yapılan
Alacahöyük Hafriyatı, 1936'daki Çalışmalara ve Keşiflere Ait İlk Rapor, 1936 (First Report about the Works and
Discoveries in
OTHER RESEARCH: Halk Terbiyesi (Public Education, 1931),
Halk Bilgisi Klavuzu (Guide to Public
Knowledge, 1932), Anadilden Derlemeler
(Collections From Primitive Language II, with Orhan Acıpayamlı, 1932), Tarihi Abidelerimizi Koruyalım (Let’s
Protect Our Historical Monuments, 1932), Ankara
Budun Bilgisi (Ankara Ethnology, 1935), Arşiv
Nedir (What is an Archive, 1936), Truva’da
Dört Yerleşme Yeri (The Four Settlements in Troy, 1936), Elâmca-Türkçe Dil Akrabalığı (Relation
Between the Elam Language and Turkish, with German Translation, 1937), Türkiye ve Türk Düğünleri Üzerine Mukayeseli
Malzeme (Comparative Research On
Turkey and Turkish Weddings, 1944), Pulur
(Sakyol) Etnografya ve Folklor Araştırması (Pulur (Sakyol) Ethnography and
Folklore Research, 1949), Türkiye’de Eski
Medeniyetlerin Maddi Kültürde Temadisi (Continuation of Ancient Turkish Civilizations in Material
Culture, 1953), Karaçay ve Malkar
Türklerinde Hayvancılık ve Bununla İlgili Gelenekler (Animal Raising by the
Turks in Karaçay and Malkar and Related Traditions, with Ramazan Karça, 1954), Ogüst Mabedi, Hacı Bayram Camii ve Türbesi
Klavuzu (Guidebook to the Ogüst Temple, Hacı Bayram Mosque and Mausoleum,
1956), Etnografya Folklor Dil Tarih vd.
Konularda Makaleler ve İncelemeler (Articles and Studies on Ethnographic
Folklore and Language History etc. 1974), İzgü
Mescid (İzgü Mosque, 1976).
NOVEL: Yuvak Taşı (Cylinder Stone, 1947).
SHORT STORY: Dokuz Ötkünç (Nine Stories, 1929), Cincik (Keban Dam Story, under the pen
name of Şerafettin Işık 1973; English edition: The History of a Potsherd, from
the Neolithic Age ‘Cımcık’, 1975).
STUDY: Susmuş Saz (Quiet Instrument, about Ardanuçlu Âşık Efkari, 1949).
