Andrew James Alexander Mango (14 June 1926 – 6 July 2014) was a British BBC employee and author.

Life

He was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, one of three sons of Alexander Mango, an Italian-Greek barrister and his White Russian wife Adelaide Damonov; the Byzantinist Cyril Mango was his younger brother. He was brought up in Istanbul and mastered a number of languages. While still young, Mango took a job as press officer in the British Embassy at

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1947 and lived in London until his death. He held degrees from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, including a doctorate on Persian literature. Mango joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Turkish section while a student and spent his entire career in the External Services, rising to be Turkish Programme Organiser and then Head of the South European Service. He retired in 1986. He died at the age of 88 on 6 July 2014. His death was announced by Richard Moore, the British Ambassador to Turkey.

Works

*''Turkey'' (1968) *''Discovering Turkey'' (1971) *''Turkey: The Challenge of a New Role'' (1994) *''Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey'' (1999) *'' The Turks Today'' (2004) *''Turkey and the War on Terrorism'' (2005) *''From the Sultan to Atatürk — Turkey'' (2009) His background in Persian and Arabic studies allowed Mango to master Ottoman Turkish. He wrote his PhD thesis at the

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. Where he later throughout his career would also lecture as guest, and advise on modern Turkish studies. Mango published his first book in 1968, while he was working for the BBC. After his retirement his productivity increased. His book on Kemal Atatürk, from 1999, established an international reputation.

Notes

References

* Barchard, David, "The Brothers Mango"
Cornucopia Magazine No 19, Winter 1999 (excerpt)
* Christopher de Bellaigue
Article about Mango

New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

* Finkel, Caroline, ''Osman's Dream'', (Basic Books, 2005), 57; "Istanbul was only adopted as the city's official name in 1930." * Sanberk, Özdem,
Obituary for Andrew Mango (1926-2014)

Hürriyet Daily News The ''Hürriyet Daily News'', formerly ''Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review'' and ''Turkish Daily News'', is the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey, founded in 1961. The paper was bought by the Doğan Media Group in 2001 and ...

8 July 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mango, Andrew 1926 births 2014 deaths British biographers British non-fiction writers Historians of Turkey Mass media people from Istanbul Alumni of the University of London Alumni of SOAS University of London British male writers British people of Greek descent British people of Russian descent British people of Italian descent Turkish people of Russian descent Turkish people of Italian descent Turkish people of Greek descent Turkish emigrants to the United Kingdom British male non-fiction writers Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey