Niyazi Berkes
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Niyazi Berkes (21 October 1908 – 18 December 1988) was a
Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...
sociologist.


Early life and education

Berkes was born in
Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...
, the capital of Cyprus, on 21 September 1908, shortly after the
Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...
in Turkey.İletişim Publishing. “The biography of Niyazi Berkes”
Retrieved 9 November 2011, (In Turkish)
Feroz Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, p.xv. He had a twin brother, Enver. They were named after
Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...
and Resneli Niyazi who were two leading figures of the revolution. Niyazi started his secondary education in Nicosia. During his education, he later, went to Istanbul and graduated from Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (Istanbul Lycée, or Istanbul Boys' High School) in 1928.Berkes, Türkiye'de Çağdaşlaşma, p.1. He began his university years studying law, but transferred to philosophy in hopes of broader intellectual engagements. In 1931, Berkes graduated from the department of philosophy,
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 ...
.


Career

Following the graduation Berkes struggled to find a professorship immediately after graduating as he lacked patronage in universities and the Ministry of Education. Recommended by a friend, he applied to a position at the People's House in Ankara. There he was exposed to the ideology of Kemalism, which at the time, allowed for much intellectual debate regarding the construction of a new Turkey. In 1935, he then became an assistant at the same faculty. In the same year, he had gone to United States and he had studied sociology at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
until 1939. In 1939 he returned to Turkey and as an
associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
of sociology he attended to the faculty of languages, history and geography of
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 ...
which had just opened a Philosophy Department. He had worked there until 1945. In 1952, he was appointed visiting professor at the Institute of Islamic Studies, the
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
in Canada. In 1956, he became professor at the same university. He retired from McGill in 1975 and settled in England. Berkes wrote no more books after his retirement, but continued to write for the Turkish press.Berkes, Feroz, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, p.XXX. He died on 18 December 1988 in Hythe in England.


Contributions

Berkes is a well-known Turkish sociologist, primarily known for his studies relating to the historical and social evolution of Turkey, such as ''the Development of Secularism in the Turkish Revolution'', considered his magnum opus. In addition to his works reflecting his views and ideas on theoretical sociology, he researched the transition of Turkey from the Ottoman era.


Works

*In 1943, he wrote his first essay on "the Development of Secularism in the Turkish Revolution" which has been seen as his
magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...
by outside
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. *His first book was "Why have we been stumbling along the road to modernization for two hundred years?" written in 1964 and was followed by "Westernization, Nationalism and Social Revolution". *In 1969, "Islamism, Nationalism, Socialism", "Islamism, Nationalism and Socialism in the Arab world", "Economic History of Turkey" (two volumes) were published. *In 1973, "The Western Question in Turkish Thought" was published. *In 1974, "Turkey's Coming of Age" was published. *In 1976, "Asian Letters" was published. *His articles and essays were collected and published in three volumes: Atatürk and Revolution in 1982, Theocracy and Secularism in 1984 and Philosophical and Social Essays in 1985.


Bibliography

*Berkes Niyazi, Ahmad Feroz (1998). ''The Development of Secularism in Turkey''. London: McGill University Press. *Berkes, Niyazi (2007). ''Türkiye’de Çağdaşlaşma''. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Publishing.


References


External links


An article of Turkish sociologist Emre Kongar in Symposium of Niyazi Berkes in 1999
(In Turkish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkes, Niyazi 20th-century social scientists 1908 births 1988 deaths Academic staff of Ankara University Istanbul High School alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Academic staff of McGill University People from Nicosia Turkish Cypriot sociologists Turkish Marxists Turkish Cypriot emigrants to the United Kingdom Turkish Cypriot expatriates in Turkey Turkish Cypriot expatriates in the United States Turkish twins