Professor Cemil Bilsel (1879–1949) was a Turkish lawyer, academic, and politician. He was also the former Rector of the

University of Istanbul Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, it was reformed as the fi ...

(1934–1943).

Early life and career

Bilsel was born in 1879 in the city of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, in

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

, into a family of Turkish origin. In 1903 he graduated from his studies in law, and between 1908–1914 and 1921–1925, Birsel entered the State Public Law Course at the Law Department of the Darülfünun’u Istanbul. In 1925 he became one of the first faculty members of the

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

and served as a Professor of Public Law until 1934. Thereafter, Bilsel became the rector of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

and remained in this post until his retirement in 1943.. He also became a national parliament member and an international representative of Turkey in global diplomatic forums. In 1948 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine by the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

. The "Prof. Dr. Cemil Bilsel Konferans Salonu" is a conference hall named in his honor at Istanbul University.

Personal life

In addition to speaking Turkish, he could also speak in the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and French languages. Bilsel died In 1949, at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilsel, Cemil Syrian people of Turkish descent People from Damascus 1879 births 1949 deaths Academic staff of Istanbul University Academic staff of Ankara University Turkish politicians Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni University of Toulouse alumni