Mediha Esenel

Mediha Esenel (1914 – 2005) was a Turkish sociologist, writer and journalist. She was a faculty member of Ankara University until January 1947 when she resigned from her teaching post during the purge of leftist academics.

Mediha Esenel
Born1914
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died26 August 2005 (aged 90–91)
Istanbul, Turkey
Alma mater
SpouseNiyazi Berkes
ChildrenFikret Berkes
Scientific career
FieldsSociology
InstitutionsAnkara University

Early life and education

She was born in Istanbul in 1914.[1][2] She was educated at the Erenköy Girls High School.[2][3] She received a degree in philosophy from Istanbul University in 1935.[3] Then she went to the United States with her husband, Niyazi Berkes, and took courses on sociology, folklore, and archeology from the University of Chicago.[3] She received her PhD from Ankara University, and her thesis was on superstitions.[3]

Career and activities

Following their return to Turkey she and her husband joined the Faculty of Language, History and Geography of Ankara University in 1939.[4] She first worked as a research assistant at the department of folk literature and folklore.[5] Then she became a sociology lecturer at the institute of philosophy.[5] She carried out research on rural sociology.[3] She resigned from her teaching post on 7 January 1947 shortly after the dismissal of her husband and other academics from the faculty.[4][6] She established a daily newspaper, 24 Saat (Turkish: 24 Hours), of which the first issue appeared on 22 February 1947.[4] Its editor-in-chief was Adnan Cemgil, and the paper lasted only 13 days until 6 March 1947.[4]

Then she began to work as a translator.[6] In 1953 she went to Canada where her husband had been living.[2] There she worked at a library and returned to Turkey in 1954.[6] Esenel was employed as a translator at the Denizcilik Bankası (Turkish: Maritime Bank) between 1955 and 1960.[6] She left the job and joined the Robert College in 1960 where she worked as a teacher of philosophy and sociology.[6] In 1972 she retired and continued her visits to villages in Anatolia.[2]

Work

She was a regular contributor of İsmail Hakkı Baltacıoğlu's journal, Yeni Adam, between 1937 and 1946.[7] During her studies at Ankara University she contributed to the newspapers Vatan and Tan.[3] She published 22 articles in Yurt ve Dünya during this period.[2][4] Following her resignation from Ankara University in 1948 she wrote a textbook targeting primary school students.[6] Her memoir was published in 1999: Geç Kalmış Bir Kitap (Turkish: A Late Book).[3][8]

Personal life and death

She married Niyazi Berkes with whom she had a son, Fikret.[3][9] They divorced in 1954.[3] Esenel died in Istanbul on 26 August 2005.[6][9]

References
  1. Gökhan Ak (2015). "Türk Düşünce Hayatında Mediha Esenel (Berkes) ve 1948 DTCF Tasfiyeleri İlişkisi Üzerine Bir İnceleme". Çağdaş Türkiye Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi (in Turkish). 15 (30): 253.
  2. Ayfer Coşkun (10 June 2001). "Yıllar sonra yazılan kitap" (PDF). Cumhuriyet Dergi (in Turkish). No. 794. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  3. Feryal Saygılıgil (2014). "Erken Cumhuriyet Dönemi Aydınlarından: Mediha Esenel (Berkes)". Sosyoloji Dergisi (in Turkish). 28 (1). CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1023.2347.
  4. Mete Kaan Kaynar; Gökhan Ak (2017). "A Forgotten Moment in Turkish Intellectual History: 24 Hours and Mediha Berkes". Balkan & Near Eastern Studies. 19 (3): 263–264, 267. doi:10.1080/19448953.2017.1267417. S2CID 151343533.
  5. Mete Çetik (October 1997). "Unutulan Yıllar". Birikim (in Turkish). No. 102. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  6. "DTCF'den 70 Yıl Önce İhraç Edildiler, Tarihe İtibarsız Olarak Geçen Onları Atanlar Oldu". Bianet (in Turkish). 9 February 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  7. Gökhan Ak (2014). "Niyazi Berkes Yazını Üzerine Bir Bibliyografya Denemesi". Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi (in Turkish). 54 (2): 426. hdl:20.500.12575/44749.
  8. Murat Metinsoy (2020). "Negotiating the price of the new state and republican modernization: resistance to the agricultural taxes in modern Turkey". New Perspectives on Turkey. 20: 83. doi:10.1017/npt.2020.24. S2CID 224906381.
  9. "Ölüm İlanları". Cumhuriyet. 28 August 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
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