Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1864-1994 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
178 folders
3883 item
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Ebüzziya Mehmed Tevfik (1849-1913): Printer, journalist, writer, calligrapher, arabesque decorator, carpet maker, and politician. He is one of the most important figures in the history of printing. He was an opposition intellectual and one of the important representatives of the Young Ottomans movement. Ebüzziya Tevfik brought many innovations in European press, publishing types, newspapers, and printing techniques to his country. He combined his artistic designs with the advanced techniques of the time and brought Ottoman publishing and printing to an internationally recognized level. He printed the major literary works of his time with designs of high artistic value.
Talha Ebüzziya (1882-1921): Ebüzziya Tevfik's second son, Velid Ebüzziya's brother, and Ziyad Ebüzziya's father. After returning from exile with his father in Konya, he began working alongside his father in the publishing business of the Tasvir-i Efkâr newspaper and Matbaa-i Ebüzziya with the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Monarchy (1908). After his father's death, he took over the newspaper and printing house with Velid Ebüzziya. During the years of the National Struggle, Talha and Velid Ebüzziya, who were at the head of the newspaper and printing house, became the unofficial spokesmen of the Ankara Government. He was imprisoned for his role in spreading the news of the British occupation of Istanbul throughout Anatolia. He contracted tuberculosis while in prison and died in a sanatorium in Switzerland, where he was receiving treatment.
Velid Ebüzziya (1884-1944): After his father's death, he took over the management of the newspaper and printing house together with his brother Talha Ebüzziya. During this period, he pioneered the publication of pictures in newspapers, making them more attractive and contributing to the enrichment of their content. Velid Ebüzziya, who achieved significant success in journalism during the National Struggle, received the Independence Medal for establishing the underground organization known as the “Mim Mim Group,” which was allegedly formed to smuggle weapons and ammunition collected by the occupying forces from the Turkish army and stored in warehouses to Anatolia. After the proclamation of the Republic (1923), he was tried in the Independence Courts for his opposition to the revolutions, but was later acquitted. During this period, Velid Ebüzziya, who published the Zaman newspaper, stopped writing for the newspaper and focused more on printing publications.
Ziyad Ebüzziya (1911-1994): He began his career in journalism in 1933 at the Zaman newspaper published by his uncle Velid Ebüzziya. He later worked with Velid Ebüzziya at Tasvîr-i Efkâr (1940-1945). After Velid Bey's death, he published the same newspaper with Cihat Baban under the name Tasvir (1945-1949). In 1950, he became a member of parliament for Konya from the Democratic Party. He taught Turkish, history, and geography at Robert College (1938-1943). He was a member of the founding board of the Middle East Technical University (1955-1960). He worked as a lecturer at the Istanbul University School of Journalism and Publishing (1979-1985). He was one of the founders of the Turkish Culture Service Foundation. He wrote articles on press history for the Turkish Religious Foundation's Encyclopedia of Islam.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Purchase (20.12.1994)
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Ebüzziya Family Papers begin with journalist, printer, and politician Ebüzziya Mehmed Tevfik (01.01.1719) and conclude with his grandson Ziyad Ebüzziya (17.03.1992). Covering a period of approximately 130 years and three generations, the collection provides significant documentation on the late Ottoman Empire and the early Republican period.
The fonds consist of papers belonging to Ebüzziya Mehmed Tevfik, his sons Talha and Velid Ebüzziya, and his grandson Ziyad Ebüzziya. Among the documents are family correspondence; letters exchanged with prominent intellectuals of the late Ottoman period such as Ali Suâvi, Server İskit, Yunus Nadi, and Recâizâde Mahmud Ekrem; articles published in the Tasvîr-i Efkâr newspaper; several works printed at the Matbaa-yı Ebüzziyâ press; and books with arabesque ornamentation.
The Republican-era documents include Ziyad Ebüzziya’s correspondence with leading contemporary figures, special collection calendars and postcard samples printed at the Ebüzziya Press, as well as other related materials.
In addition, the fond contains a rich variety of visual and textual materials such as photographs, engravings, maps, and newspaper clippings, shedding light on the intellectual and political life of the period.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Since it is a historical document, it will be kept permanently.
Accruals
Closed-end Fond
System of arrangement
The fond has been divided into sub-funds according to the family members who own the documents, and the documents they produced have been separated into series and organized into files according to their subjects.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open access. The Catalog information and digital images of the documents are available online. The originals of the documents can be viewed and searched at our centre upon request.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright belongs to İSAM. It can be reproduced with the permission of the institution and quoted with reference.
Language of material
- Ottoman Turkish
- Turkish
- English
- French
- German
- Arabic
Script of material
- Arabic
- Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The collection, which consists mainly of paper, contains 40 transparencies and photographs. A viewing device is required for the transparencies.
Some documents are worn and illegible.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
The original documents are kept in the İSAM Library Archive (İKA) repository.
Existence and location of copies
Digital copies of the documents are kept on hard drives available at the İSAM Library Archive (İKA).
Related units of description
Orhan Şaik Gökyay Records
Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, State Archives Directorate, Ottoman Archives Catalog
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Name access points
- Vala Emircan (Subject)
- Alev Ebüzziya Siesbye (Subject)
- Mükerrem Janina (Subject)
- Fuat Emircan (Subject)
- Abdülali Emircan (Subject)
- Cebbar Ertürk (Subject)
- Şinasi (Subject)
- Ahmed Rıza (Subject)
- Jean Louis Bacqué Grammont (Subject)
- Pars Tuğlacı (Subject)
- Namık Kemal (Subject)
- Yunus Nadi (Subject)
- Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (Subject)
- Ali Suavi (Subject)
- Celal Nuri İleri (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Classified according to ISAD-G standard.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
The classification was completed on July 2, 2014.
Language(s)
- Turkish
Script(s)
- Latin
Sources
Ziyad Ebüzziya's entries “Ebüzziya Mehmed Tevfik” (https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebuzziya-mehmed-tevfik) and “Ebüzziya, Velid” (https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebuzziya-velid).
Turgut Kut's entry “Matbaa-i Ebüzziya” (https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/matbaa-i-ebuzziya).
Mustafa İsmet Uzun's entry “Ebüzziya, Ziyad” (https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebuzziya-ziyad).
Ziyad Ebüzziya has various articles related to the press in DİA.
There are also various articles about the Ebüzziya family in the Istanbul Encyclopedia.
Özgür Türesay has completed two thesis studies in France, one for a master's degree and one for a doctorate, on Mecmua-i Ebüzziya and Ebüzziya Tevfik. (http://ktp.isam.org.tr/?geldi=ara_ktpb&blm=sonuc&navdil=tr&wKitaplar=eb&wYazarlar=%C3%B6zg%C3%BCr+t%C3%BCres&wYayyerleri=&YnglnTrh=&-max=10&-find=).
The study titled “The Ebüzziya Family in Our Cultural and Artistic Life” prepared by Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu.
Archivist's note
The preliminary classification work was carried out by Dr. Kenan Yıldız, Dr. Ekrem Tak, and Ömer Faruk Şerifoğlu; the preliminary-detailed classification and adaptation to the ISAD-G Standard was carried out by Neslihan Aracı Güler and Dr. Nuray Urkaç Güler, and the digitization was carried out by Volkan Kuru. The classification of digital images was carried out by Neslihan Aracı Güler and Hatice Aldemir.