#Exhibit of the Month

This year we commemorate 350 years since the birth and 300 years since the death of Dimitrie Cantemir (October 26, 1673 - August 21, 1723), the most famous Romanian humanist thinker and also the author of the first original Romanian philosophical works.

Dimitrie Cantemir represents one of the highest peaks of thought of his time, in all areas that his genius touched - in historiography, geography, philosophy, he opened up new perspectives for development. The great scholar was well acquainted with the Muslim environment, speaking, in addition to Western, also Eastern languages (Turkish, Persian and Arabic), and also had extensive knowledge in the fields of logic, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy and music. This well-educated Christian beyzade, being a born diplomat, won the trust of Sultan Ahmed III, who favorably allowed him to familiarize himself with the documents of imperial history that Cantemir used in working on his famous work "The Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire", which still remains a reference publication in a specialized bibliography.

The National Museum of History of Moldova possesses a German edition of this work, published in Hamburg in 1745. This edition is an impressive volume of 863 pages, accompanied by a preface in German by the editor, containing words of praise and appreciation: "... we consider that such a work of great significance must be known to the Germans in their mother tongue..."

Dimitrie Cantemir was the first scholar to show that the history of the Ottoman Empire divides into two parts. The first part that of growth, includes biographies of 19 sultans and ends around 1672, when the empire entered a new phase, that of political and military decline. Through this work, Cantemir tried to draw attention to the need for an alliance of European countries against Turkish expansion. At the same time, he praised certain aspects of the culture of the Turkish people.

Like "Description of Moldavia", "The Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire" enjoyed wide popularity in European countries. The work was first translated into Russian by Dmitry Grozin, but was not printed. After the death of Dimitrie Cantemir, thanks to his son Antiochus, who became the Russian ambassador in London and then in Paris, this fundamental writing of our scholar was translated and published in English (two volumes, 1734-1735, followed by a new edition in 1756) and in French (1743, in four small volumes). In 1745, the work was also published in German. It was read, highly valued and used in their writings by Voltaire, Byron, Victor Hugo and others. This is the first treatise that addresses the issue of Ottoman power and the multicultural nature of the empire. Work on it began during the author's stay in the Ottoman Empire, resumed after 1711, and finished in 1717. This writing brought him European fame and placed him among the great scholars of the time.

Virtual Tour

Publications

Journal „Tyragetia"

vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2

The Gagauz in the context of the Romanian-Turkish relations in the period from 1918 to 1940: History and personalities

ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Степан Булгар, Иван Думиника

The Gagauz in the context of the Romanian-Turkish relations in the period from 1918 to 1940: History and personalities

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015

Abstract

The article ﬁrst introduces unknown documents from the archives of Turkey, Romania and the Republic of Moldova related to the "Gagauz problem" in the context of the Romanian-Turkish relations. The authors have paid attention mainly on the education ﬁeld, where Turkish cultural and ideological inﬂuence was the most noticeable. In the dissemination of the policy of the Turkish identity among the Gagauz in Bessarabia, Turkish government largely relied on Gagauz intellectuals and the youth. Therefore, Turkish teachers Zahit Mehmet Boztuna, Hasan Belal Kilic Ahmed Mehmed, Sali Ismail, Osman Abdullah, Ali and Bayram Cantarelli, and others were sent to Gagauz villages. They had an appropriate authorization from the Romanian Ministry of National Education to teach Turkish language for two hours a week and provided the training in the Gagauz and Bulgarian-Gagauz villages of Comrat, Congaz, Kubey, Chadir-Lunga, Congaz, etc. According to some reports, their activities were funded from the Turkish and partly from the Romanian budget. At the same time, the Turkish government encouraged Gagauz young people to enter secondary, high and specialized secondary schools in Ankara and Istanbul. Students were guaranteed a hostel, training for the budget account and scholarships. The article reﬂects a huge role of the Turkish Ambassador in Romania Hamdullah Subhi Tanriyover (1931-1944), who initiated and conducted most of the work on the organization of Turkish language teaching in Gagauz villages, provision of textbooks and teacher training.

List of the illustrations (photographs from St. S. Bulgar's personal archive):
Fig. 1. The Turkish Ambassador in Romania Hamdullah Subhi Tanriyover (1931-1944).
Fig. 2. Turkish teacher Osman Abdullah and his wife Anastasia (Sakally). Kubey village, 1940.
Fig. 3. School-leaving certiﬁcate of Semen Vasilyevich Donchev (born in 1931) from the village of Cîrlaneni, signed by the school director Ali Cantarell (former teacher of Turkish language). 20.08.1946.
Fig. 4. Gagauz students during studying in the Men's Teacher Training College. Istanbul, 1939.
Fig. 5. Gagauz students with the teachers during the studies in the Men's Teacher Training College. Istanbul, 1939. Fig. 6. Building of a male school. Istanbul, 1930s.
Fig. 7. Sleeping quarters of a male school. Istanbul, 1930s.
Fig. 8. Gagauz students while studying in the Men's Teacher Training College. Istanbul, 1938.
Fig. 9. The order signed by the President of Turkey Atatürk: the admission to study at the Galatasaray High School.
Istanbul, 1934.
Fig. 10. Building of the Galatasaray High School. Istanbul, 2014.
Fig. 11. Magazine "VARLIK" (1939, ѡ 139), which published the works of folklore collected by P. Zavrak in Gagauz villages of Bessarabia.
Fig. 12. Brothers Pyotr and Dimitry Zavrak (left to right). Turkey, 1941.
Fig. 13. Intellectuals of Vulcanești village with representatives of the Romanian authorities in 1939 (Irina Bulgar stands in the second row, third from right).
Fig. 14. Emin Mutaf (George Mutafov), Vice President of the Aegean University in Izmir, Turkey. 1960s.
Fig. 15. Vasily Chebanov (Özdemir Chobanoglu) while studying in the Bolgrad Grammar School (in center, in a white hat). 1937.
Fig. 16. Vasily Chebanov (Özdemir Chobanoglu).
Fig. 17. Letter from Hamdullaha Subhi Tanryѐver to Özdemir Chobanoglu (Vasily Chebanov). 04.28.1964.
Fig. 18. Teacher's Certiﬁcate issued to Özdemir Chobanoglu (Vasily Chebanov) by the Ministry of Culture of Turkey in 1939.
Fig. 19. Musicologist and composer Veysel Arseven (Vasily Ёkyuzchyu) with his family. Ankara, Turkey, 1960s.
Fig. 20. Director of the Galatasaray High School Ali Kaigy (George Kaikeyi). Istanbul, 1965.
Fig. 21. From the personal ﬁle of the French language teacher Ali Kaigy (George Kaikeyi), Galatasaray High School.
Istanbul, 1965.
Fig. 22. Undocumented immigrants, issued to Mete Kargalyk (Dimitry Gargalic) in 1940 in the Republic of Turkey. Fig. 23. Certiﬁcate of assigning an oҌcer rank, issued to Mete Kargalyk (Dimitry Gargalic) after service in the
Turkish army. 1947.