Sabri Ülker (1920 – 12 June 2012) was a Turkish industrialist and businessman, and the founder of
Ãœlker
Ãœlker is a Turkish multinational food and beverage manufacturer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Its products are exported internationally, to 110 countries. Ãœlker's core products are biscuits, cookies, crackers, and chocolates, although it has ex ...
.
Early life
Sabri Ãœlker was born in 1920 in
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
.
[Pelin Turgut]
Ãœlker: Ambitious confectioner snaps up Belgium's Godiva
''Financial Times'', November 28, 2008 His family is of Crimean Tatar origin and fled to Turkey to escape communism.
Having spent his early childhood in Crimea,
Sabri Ãœlker immigrated to Ä°stanbul 1929 together with his family.
Education
Arriving in İstanbul at the age of 9, he started his education at Kadırga Elementary School.
After the elementary school, he studied at İstanbul High School for a brief period. Upon winning the right to attend the public boarding school during his 2nd year at junior high, he went to Bilecik. He graduated from Bilecik Junior High School and then Kütahya High School. During World War 2, he had his college degree at Sultanahmet Academy of Economics and Commerce (Marmara University, today).
Career
He founded the
Ãœlker
Ãœlker is a Turkish multinational food and beverage manufacturer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Its products are exported internationally, to 110 countries. Ãœlker's core products are biscuits, cookies, crackers, and chocolates, although it has ex ...
company in 1944.
It became known as Yıldız Holding in 1989.
Ãœlker has also led social development projects.
[Politicians, business world, rival say farewell to founder of Ãœlker](_blank)
''Hurriyet Daily News'', June 14, 2012 He was among the founders of the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA).
Personal life
He was married to Güzide Iman, born in Balıkesir in 1924, the daughter of a tradesman father Muharrem İman, and his wife Sabih.
They had three children, Ali Ülker, who died young, Ahsen Özokur and Murat Ülker.
[ ]
He died on 12 June 2012.
Legacy
The Sabri Ãœlker Center at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts is named in his honor.
Awards in his name
* Sabri Ãœlker Environment Award
* Sabri Ãœlker Science Award
References
1920 births
2012 deaths
Turkish businesspeople
Turkish people of Crimean Tatar descent
Burials at Topkapı Cemetery
Soviet emigrants to Turkey
{{Turkey-bio-stub