Fahrettin Kerim Gökay (January 9, 1900

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

– July 22, 1987

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

) was a Turkish politician, civil servant, professor ordinarius and physician. He served as government minister, and is well known for his long-term position as governor of Istanbul.

Early years

He was born on January 9, 1900, in

. His father was

Hajji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since i ...

Kerim Efendi, a Crimean Tatar from

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

and his mother Hajji Azize Hanım, an immigrant daughter from

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

. After finishing the primary school in his hometown, he studied in a high school in Istanbul. Gökay was educated at Istanbul University's Faculty of Medicine, from where he graduated as a physician in 1922. He then carried out studies between 1922 and 1924 at universities of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

as well as at

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, specializing in neuropathy. In 1926, Gökay became associate professor, in 1933 professor and then in 1942 full professor. He served also as president of the Turkish Red Crescent.

Civil servant

On October 24, 1949, he was appointed governor and mayor of Istanbul, succeeding

Lütfi Kırdar Mehmet Lütfi Kırdar (March 15, 1887 – February 17, 1961) was a Turkish physician, civil servant, politician and Minister of Health and Social Security. He is best remembered for his long-term position as the Governor and Mayor of Istanbul. ...

(in office 1938–1949). Gökay served in this post until November 26, 1957. He introduced price controls on staple foods in Istanbul to protect low-income residents. The municipality of Istanbul founded

Migros Türk Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Migro ...

in 1954 as a joint venture with Swiss Migros, initially operating (like its counterpart in Switzerland) via sales trucks. Gökay opened up the area outside of the Walls of Istanbul for urbanization. He also initiated the foundation of around fifty schools in Istanbul. During his term of office, he was nicknamed "Küçük Vali" (literally en, Little Governor) for his small height, and was a favorite figure depicted in cartoons as such. He was blamed for his passive behavior during the Istanbul riots on September 6–7 in 1955, and was tried before the military tribunal on

Yassıada Yassıada ( Turkish: Flat Island), officially renamed Democracy and Freedom Island ( Turkish: Demokrasi ve Özğürlükler Adası) in 2013, is one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, to the southeast of Istanbul. In Byzantine times, i ...

after the 1960 coup d'état. On November 23, 1957, he was appointed Ambassador to Switzerland, where he served in Bern until July 2, 1960.

Politician

In the 1961 general election, Gökay entered politics, running for a seat in the parliament from the New Turkey Party and became deputy of Istanbul. In the cabinet of

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three tim ...

, Gökay served as Minister of Construction and Settlement from July 1962, and then as minister of health and social security between November 27 and December 25, 1963. He retired from politics in 1965. Gökay died on July 22, 1987, at the age of 87 in Istanbul.

Legacy

A main street in

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea o ...

district of Istanbul is named after him. There is an

Anatolian High School Anatolian High School, or Anadolu High School ( tr, Anadolu Lisesi), refers to public high schools in Turkey that admit their students according to high nationwide standardized test (LGS) scores, though this is not required for entering all Anato ...

at Sefaköy in

Küçükçekmece Küçükçekmece (; meaning “small-drawer”, from much earlier ''Rhagion'' and ''Küçükçökmece as “little breakdown''" or “''little depression''”, in more ancient times just as Bathonea), is a suburb and district of Istanbul, Turke ...

district of Istanbul bearing his name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gokay, Fahrettin Kerim 1900 births People from Eskişehir Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine alumni Turkish neurologists Academic staff of Istanbul University Turkish civil servants Governors of Istanbul Mayors of Istanbul Ambassadors of Turkey to Switzerland New Turkey Party (1961) politicians 20th-century Turkish politicians Deputies of Istanbul Government ministers of Turkey Health ministers of Turkey 1987 deaths Members of the 27th government of Turkey Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Istanbul pogrom Turkish people of Crimean Tatar descent