Server Tanilli (1931–2011) was a Turkish academic and author. While working as an academic he was attacked by the terrorists on 7 April 1978 which left him paralyzed from the chest down. He worked at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, France, between 1980 and 2000 during his exile due to the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. He returned to Turkey in 2000 and contributed to the ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

'' newspaper.

Early life and education

Tanilli was born in Istanbul in 1931. He received a degree in law 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 ...

and also, obtained a PhD from the same university.

Career

Following his graduation, Tanilli joined his alma mater and became an associated professor in 1960. Later he worked at Istanbul University as the professor of

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

. His courses were mainly about the constitutional law and the history of civilizations. Tanilli left Turkey after the 1980 military coup in Turkey and worked at the University of Strasbourg, France.

Work

Tanilli published many books, and most of them were concerned with the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. He was also author of the biographies of the leading French figures, including

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

and

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

. His book entitled ''What Kind of Democracy Do We Want?'' was seized based on the order of the Turkish

State Security Court The State Security Court is a judicial institution in Jordan. It deals with cases regarding state security, but also with drug offences and other types of cases. The defendants in the court can be both military personnel as well as civilians. The C ...

in 1988.

Views

Tanilli was a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and believed that socialism is the final step of the progressive reason. He argued in 1996 that one of the most significant problems that the Western democracies came across in the 20th century was the totalitarian political parties. For him such parties enjoyed the privileges offered by the liberal political setting, but they did not follow the

democratic principles Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

following their election victories.

Assassination attempt

On 7 April 1978, Tanilli was severely wounded in a terrorist attack. He survived the attack but was paralyzed from the chest down. In early May, he was sent by the Turkish state to London for medical treatment. The perpetrators were allegedly members of the Hearths of Idealism which is a parameter youth group affiliated with the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

Later years and death

Tanilli returned to Turkey in 2000 and worked for ''Cumhuriyet'' newspaper. From 1999, Tanilli was the honorary member of the

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

. He was recipient of the 2006 Sertel Democracy Prize. Tanilli died in Istanbul on 29 November 2011. He was buried in

Karacaahmet Cemetery The Karacaahmet Cemetery () is a 700-year-old historic cemetery located in Üsküdar, on the Asian side of Istanbul. Karacaahmet cemetery is the largest and second oldest in Istanbul at , and the largest burial ground in Turkey by number of interr ...

References

External links

Overview of his publications

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanilli, Server 21st-century Turkish journalists 1931 births 2011 deaths Turkish non-fiction writers Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Survivors of terrorist attacks Cumhuriyet people Academic staff of Istanbul University Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg Turkish exiles Burials at Karacaahmet Cemetery Writers from Istanbul PEN International Turkish socialists