Cahit Tanyol | |
|---|---|
 Tanyol in early 20th century | |
| Born | 1914 Nezib,Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 11 August 2020(2020-08-11) (aged 106) Moda,Istanbul,Turkey |
| Resting place | Karacaahmet Cemetery |
| Occupation | Teacher, Academician |
| Language |
|
| Education | Gazi Institute of Education,Istanbul University |
| Spouse | Fethiye Tanyol |
| Children | 2 |
Hüseyin Cahit Tanyol (1914 – 11 August 2020) was a Turkish writer, poet, and sociologist, often regarded as the father of Turkish sociology.[1]
Hüseyin Cahit was born in 1914 in the town ofNezib,[2] then located in thevilayet of Aleppo,Ottoman Empire. In 1931, he finishedAdana Boys'Teacher School. He graduated fromGazi Institute of Education in 1935. In 1940, he started studying philosophy atIstanbul University and got hismaster's degree four years later with his thesis "The Origin of Ethics inSchopenhauer." He started working as an assistant at the same university in 1946 and got hisPhD with his work "The Place of Pleasure and Suffering in Morality."[1]
While he was working as a teacher inİzmir in 1939, he started publishingAramak, a Turkish literary magazine, receiving acclaim from well-known Turkish authors at the time. He became an associate professor in 1953 and a professor in 1961. Between 1972 and 1982, he served as the head of the department of sociology atIstanbul University. Between 1991 and 2003, he was avisiting professor inMimar Sinan University andUludağ University.[1]
Cahit Tanyol madefield research on several rural ethnic groups living near his hometown,Nizip, such asKurds of theReshwan tribe[3] andTurkmens ofBarak[4] andChepni tribes.[5]
Tanyol often criticized the ideological dynamics in Turkey:
"From elementary school to university, we teach the revolutions,Kemalism; graduating students either becomeMarxist orNurcu."[8]
As a non-Kurd, he touched on theKurdish issue:
"Accepting Kurds as one of us is different from arousing the notion of a denial of Kurds' Kurdishness as if it's shameful. Political parties' urge to reassure that no one is a second-class citizen in this country whenever they are touring the southeastern region is similar to shouting 'from now on, no one will callGiaoursGiaour' during theSecond Constitutional Era."[9]
After the death of Tanyol, a video of him from 2018, then aged 104, was released by one of his former students. In the video, he was confronted by his former students and shown declaring support for presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan. This video was aired byregime-sided media[10] along with an article by the confronting student onAnadolu Agency.[11] The video received great criticism, especially from Tanyol's son, Tuğrul Tanyol, who regarded the video as "disgusting" and "an insult to [Tanyol's] memory." He underlined that Tanyol had a leftist background and previously fiercely criticized Erdoğan's original political movement,Millî Görüş. Tuğrul Tanyol further mentioned his father's encroaching dementia and that his father never voted forErdoğan's party.[12]
Cahit Tanyol was married to Fethiye.[13] He had one son, named Tuğrul, and one daughter, Bilge.[14]