ADIVAR, Adnan

Writer (b. 1881, Gelibolu / Çanakkale - d. 1 July 1955, İstanbul). His real name was Abdülhak Adnan. He attended the School of Medicine until third grade in İstanbul, where he had completed his primary and secondary education. He graduated from the Berlin Faculty of Medicine in Germany, to where he had fled with his friends, and received specialist education in Zurich. After the Constitutional Monarchy and his return to Türkiye he became assistant teacher in the School of Medicine and worked as the director of that faculty for about two years. He served in the First World War at the front in Tripoli as a Red Crescent supervisor.

After the armistice he entered the Ottoman Assembly as the parliamentary deputy of İstanbul. He was one of the founders of National Turkish Party along with Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Yusuf Akçura and others. Upon the occupation of İstanbul, he moved to Ankara with his wife Halide Edip. He was appointed as the Minister of Health and Social Aid and as the Minister of Interior Affairs in the first Turkish Grand National Assembly. He served in the Assembly as the second chairman. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for some time.

As he was one of the founders of the Progressive Republican Party (1924) with Rauf Orbay, Kazım Karabekir and Ali Fuat Cebesoy, his relationship with Mustafa Kemal deteriorated and, fallen out of favor, he went abroad. Although a decision to arrest him in his absence was taken, he did not return to Türkiye, but lived in the United Kingdom and France for many years (1929-39). His resentment continued until the death of Mustafa Kemal. He worked as a Turkish teacher in Paris for about eight years. When he was in the United Kingdom he wrote the section relating to Türkiye for Encyclopedia Britannica. When he returned to Türkiye, he was appointed as the manager of the Clerical Board of İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Islamic Encyclopedia). He became an independent parliamentary deputy between 1950 and 1954. He published his research articles during his later years in Cumhuriyet newspaper and Yeni Ufuklar review. He translated the books of western intellectuals such as Bertrand Russell into Turkish.

WORKS:

STUDY-RESEARCH: Faust, Tahlil Tercümesi (Faust, Analysis Translation, 1939), Osmanlı Türkleri'nde İlim (Science in the Ottoman Turks, first edition in French, 1939; 2nd edition, 1943), Tarih Boyunca İlim ve Din (Science and Religion Throughout History, 2 volumes, 1944), Bilgi Cumhuriyet Haberleri (Information Republic News, 1945).

BIOGRAPHY: Farabi (Farabi, 10th century Islamic philosopher, 1947).

ESSAY: Dur, Düşün (Stop and Think, 1950), Bizans'ta Yüksek Mektepler (Schools in Byzantium, 1953), Hakikat Peşindeki Emeklemeler (Crawling in the Pursuit of Truth, 1954).
In addition, he published translations.