Fuat Sezgin (24 October 1924 – 30 June 2018) was a Turkish scholar and researcher who specialized in the history of

Science in the medieval Islamic world Science in the medieval Islamic world was the science developed and practised during the Islamic Golden Age under the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, the Caliphate of Córdoba, Umayyads of Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba, the Abbadid dynasty, Abbadids ...

. He was ''professor emeritus'' of the History of Natural Science at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the founder and honorary director of the Institute of the History of the Arab Islamic Sciences there. He also created museums in Frankfurt and Istanbul with replicas of historical Arabic-Islamic scientific instruments, tools and maps. The utility of a museum of replicas in an antiquarian field contaminated by fakes is discussed by Prof. Nir Shafir at the Internet web site ''Aeon'' in 2018 at https://aeon.co/essays/why-fake-miniatures-depicting-islamic-science-are-everywhere His best known publication is the 17-volume ''Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums'', a standard reference in the field.

Career

Sezgin earned his Ph.D. from

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 ...

under the German Orientalist Hellmut Ritter in 1950. His thesis titled "Buhari’nin Kaynakları" (The Sources of Al-Bukhari) argued that, contrary to the common belief among European orientalists, Al-Bukhari's edition of collected

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s was based on written sources dating back to the 7th century as well as oral history. He obtained a position at Istanbul University, but was dismissed in the wake of the 1960 coup. He moved to Germany in 1961 and started working as a visiting professor at the University of Frankfurt. He was appointed professor at the university in 1965. His research in Frankfurt focused on Islam's Golden Age of Science. In 1982, Sezgin established the Institute of the History of the Arab Islamic Sciences. Today the Institute houses the most comprehensive collection of texts on the history of Arabic-Islamic science in the world. In 1983 Sezgin also founded a unique museum within the institute, bringing together more than 800 replicas of historical scientific instruments, tools and maps, mostly belonging to the Golden Age of Islamic science. A very similar museum was opened in 2008 in Istanbul. In 1968, Sezgin found four previously unknown books of

Diophantus Diophantus of Alexandria () (; ) was a Greek mathematician who was the author of the '' Arithmetica'' in thirteen books, ten of which are still extant, made up of arithmetical problems that are solved through algebraic equations. Although Jose ...

' ''Arithmetica'' at the shrine of Imam Rezā in the holy Islamic city of

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

in northeastern Iran.

Publications

Fuat Sezgin was the author and editor of numerous publications. His 17-volume work ''Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums'' (1967-2000) is the cornerstone reference on the history of science and technology in the Islamic world. The 5-volume ''Natural Sciences of Islam'' documents the items in the Frankfurt museum. He had, since 1984, edited the ''Journal for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science''. Sezgin had argued that Muslim seafarers had reached the Americas by 1420, citing as evidence the inscription on a map and the fact that the high longitudinal precision of early maps of the Americas would not have been attainable using Western navigational technology. He had an Insutute named after him, Insutute of Prof Dr. Fuat Sezgin History of Islam Science, Located next to Gülhane.

Awards

Sezgin received several awards, including the King Faisal International Prize of Islamic Studies in 1978 and

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

. He is member of the

Turkish Academy of Sciences The Turkish Academy of Sciences ( – TÜBA) is an autonomous scholarly association aimed at promoting scientific activities in Turkey. Although it is attached to the office of the Presidency and is largely funded by the government, it maintains f ...

, the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and academies of Arabic Language in Cairo,

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 ...

and

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Recognition

On 24 September 2012, Melih Gökçek, Mayor of Municipality of Metropolitan Ankara, announced that a square in

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 ( ...

was named in honor of Fuat Sezgin. A relief of him created by artist Aslan Başpınar at the square was revealed the same day in the presence of Fuat Sezgin and his spouse Ursula by the mayor.

References

External links

Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften
(in German)

Technology and Science in Islam

Prof.Dr. Fuat Sezgin Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sezgin, Fuat 1924 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Turkish historians Turkish Arabists Turkish orientalists Historians of science Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco People from Bitlis Istanbul University alumni Turkish expatriates in Germany Honorary members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences Turkish people of Kurdish descent