Famous Turkish historian Fuat Sezgin dies at age 95

By Hilal Ustuk

ANKARA

World-renowned Turkish historian Fuat Sezgin died on Saturday at the age of 95.

Macit Cetinkaya, chair of the board of Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam, told Anadolu Agency that Sezgin died in the hospital where he was treated for an unspecified illness.

“I am very saddened by the death of such a valued scientist, regardless of his age. He was a very distinguished scientist,” Cetinkaya said.

“He donated a priceless library and museum to Turkey,” he added. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also extended his condolences over the demise of the historian.

“I wish Allah’s mercy upon the great scholar Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin, who led the awakening of our civilization and history with the works he has done in the field of Islamic science history, and offer my condolences to the nation, his relatives and the world of science,” Erdogan said on Twitter.

Sezgin was born in eastern Bitlis province in 1924. He studied at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Letters, where he also earned his PhD on Arabic language and literature.

He continued his studies at Germany’s Frankfurt University in 1960 following a military coup in Turkey.

He devoted a considerable amount of time to studying and listing scientific contributions made by Muslim/Arabic scholars throughout history. He wrote numerous books and articles.

Sezgin founded the Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam in 2010 to support activities of the Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam.

In 2013, he also founded the History of Science in Islam Institute at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University in Istanbul.