Niyazi Berkes
Encyclopedia
Biography
Berkes was born in NicosiaNicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
on 21 October 1908. He started his secondary education in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Nicosia. During his education, he later, went to Istanbul and graduated from Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (Istanbul Lycée, or Istanbul Boys’ High School ) in 1928. In 1931, Berkes graduated from the Department of Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, Faculty of Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
of Istanbul University
Istanbul University
Istanbul University is a Turkish university located in Istanbul. The main campus is adjacent to Beyazıt Square.- Synopsis :A madrasa, a religious school, was established sometime in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. An institution of higher education named the...
. In 1935, he then became an assistant at the same faculty. In the same year, he had gone to United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and he had studied on sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
until 1939. In 1939 he returned to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and as an associate professor of sociology he attended to the Faculty of Languages, History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
of Ankara University
Ankara University
Ankara University is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in the Turkish Republic....
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
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
, the McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1956, he became professor in the same university.
He retired from McGill in 1975 and settled in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Berkes wrote no more books after his retirement but continued to write for the Turkish press. He died on 18 December 1988 in Hythe
Hythe, Kent
Hythe , is a small coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the District of Shepway on the south coast of Kent. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning Haven or Landing Place....
in England. He is known with his studies which are related with the historical and social evolution of Turkey.
Beside some studies which reflect his views and ideas on theoretical sociology, he also did some research on the transitions of Turkey from Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
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 opusMagnum opusMagnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
by outside TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
- 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.