Seyfettin Manisalıgil

He was born in 1957 in Karahallı, Uşak. He finished Kütahya Barbaros Elementary School. He continued his education in Kütahya Secondary School but graduated from Istanbul's Vefa High School in 1975. In the same year, he enrolled in Ankara University's Faculty of Political Sciences, which he finished in 1979, and in 1981 he began his career as an assistant at the Faculty of Economics. He served first in the Economic Geography and Tourism Research Center, and then the Sociology and Methodology Research Centre. He conducted research in the United States at the University of Wisconsin between 1988 and 1992. He spoke German and English and was the father of a daughter named Elif. He died of a sudden heart failure on Nov. 11, 1992. Following his passing, his library of about 2,500 books was transferred to the Library of the Foundation for Science and Arts (BİSAV).  

Mehmet Serhan Tayşi

Descending from a family of scholars from the Bayındırlı Township of the Aegean city of İzmir, Mehmet Serhan Tayşi was born in 1942 in the city of Adana, where his father Mr. Ahmet Râsih was working as a police officer at the time. He received his primary, secondary and high school education, respectively, in Izmir Halit Bey Primary School, Karataş Secondary School, and Izmir Atatürk High School. He graduated from Istanbul University's Department of History.

He started work in the Millet (National) Library of Istanbul's Fatih district in 1970 and took on the respective positions of office clerk, department chief, expert, chief expert, and assistant director. In 1983, he was appointed as director of the Millet Library and worked in this position until his retirement in 2003.

He published his articles about libraries, librarianship, books, and history, and especially those on cultural issues, in various magazines and newspapers. He rendered such Ottoman works as Mecmuây-ı Tekâyâ, Lemezât-ı Hulviyye, and Kıyâfetu'l İnsâniye into contemporary Turkish. Tayşi's memories were made into a book in 2009 by N. Taha Kılınç under the title of In the Footsteps of Ali Emîrî.

The collection of 3,363 books donated by Mehmet Serhan Tayşi comprises a large number of Ottoman works, most of which are on Ottoman history and literature.

Ahmet Davutoğlu

He was born on Feb. 26, 1959 in the Central Anatolian city of Konya. He finished his secondary education in Istanbul High School for Boys, and in 1984 he graduated from the department of Political Science and Economics at Boğaziçi University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He obtained his M.A. degree from the department of Public Administration of the same university, where he also got a PhD from the Department of Political Science and International Relations. The title of his doctoral thesis was The Impacts of Alternative Weltanschauungs on Political Theories: A Comparison of Tawhid and Ontological Proximity (1990). In the same year, he started to work in the Malaysian International Islamic University as an assistant professor. He founded the Department of Political Science in the Malaysian International Islamic University and held its chairmanship until 1993. He became an associate professor in 1993. Between 1995 and 1999, he served as a lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Marmara University. Between 1999 and 2004, as a full professor, he was a board member of Beykent University, where he also served as a member of the Senate, and as the chair of the International Relations Department as well as a visiting professor at Marmara University's Department of International Relations. On May 1, 2009 he was appointed as the Foreign Minister of the 60th Government of the Turkish Republic. Davutoğlu, who speaks English, German, and Arabic, is a published writer of many books including Alternative Paradigms (1994), Stratejik Derinlik (2001), Küresel Bunalım (2002),Civilizational Transformation and the Muslim World(1994), Osmanlı Medeniyeti: Siyaset İktisat Sanat (2005), Teoriden Pratiğe Türk Dış Politikası Üzerine Konuşmalar (2013) in addition to a large number of articles.

The collection of 2,351 books donated by Davutoğlu to our library consists of Turkish and English books on issues of political science and international relations.

Halil İbrahim Şener

Born in 1938 in the town of Huğlu of Konya's Beyşehir district, Halil İbrahim Şener finished the Konya Imam-Hatip School (religious vocational high school) in 1960, and the Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute in 1964. He worked as a teacher of religion at the Tokat and the Konya Imam-Hatip Schools, and as a headmaster at the Imam-Hatip Schools of Çankırı, Zonguldak, and Aydın. In 1977, he became an assistant in the field of Islamic Turkish Literature at the Izmir Higher Islamic Institute. In 1985, he finished his doctoral thesis entitled The Beautiful Names of God in Turkish Literature Written in Prose. He became associate professor in 1994, and full professor in 2000. And as his last place of work, he served as the head of the Department of Islamic History and Arts at İzmir’s Dokuz Eylül University. He retired in 2005, and died on Jan. 14, 2006.

The author of Kaside-i Bürde, Kaside-i Bür'e ve Su Kasidesi (1995) and Türk İslam Edebiyatı (2003), Şener's library of approximately 2,938 books and some magazine collections in Turkish, Arabic and Ottoman Turkish largely about Turkish Islamic literature, Turkish language, art, Quranic exegesis, history, and philosophy was donated to the library of our Foundation by his family after his passing. Among the donations are a typewriter used by the late professor as well as four Arabic calligraphy plaques.

 Arslan Pulathaneli

He was born in Trabzon in 1919. He graduated from Trabzon High School in 1937. He studied at the Istanbul Higher School of Commerce. In the years following his graduation, he dealt with trade in Trabzon. Pulathaneli, who was particularly interested in poetry books, sent letters to the authors of so many books unavailable to him, be they published in a most remote Anatolian township or a major town, or even outside Turkey, and formed a unique collection of books, making himself indeed a very rich library. He also penned articles on Trabzon's cultural life, books, publications, and cinema for various magazines such as Trabzon (Ankara), Karşı, Kıyı, Mavi Nokta, and newspapers such as Kuzey Haber and Karadeniz. On May 13, 1996, Pulathaneli passed away in Trabzon, and his library of 11,000 volumes of books and 5000 periodicals was transferred to the Foundation for Science and Arts (BİSAV) following his passing.

Şakir Kocabaş

He was born in Istanbul in 1945. He received his primary, secondary and high school education in Istanbul. He graduated from Istanbul Technical University's Faculty of Chemistry in 1970. He worked in the chemical industry in Turkey and England. He obtained his doctoral degree in artificial intelligence from London's King's College between 1985 and 1990. He returned to Turkey in 1991 and started to work in the TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM) as the head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence. Between 1992 and 1998 he worked at the Istanbul Technical University's Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and during his time there he led two major international EUCLID simulation projects. These projects were successfully completed in 1997 and won the TUBITAK Marmara Research Center's, "Most Successful Project" award. Dr. Kocabaş published, both in Turkey and abroad, a large number articles on artificial intelligence in addition to the papers he presented at conferences on the same topic. Kocabaş passed away in 2006. Among his published works are İfadelerin Gramatik Ayırımı (1984), İslâm'da Bilginin Temelleri (1997), Fizik ve Gerçeklik: Bilim Felsefesine Kavramsal Bir Yaklaşım (2001), İslâm'da Gerçeklik Kavramı: Kur'ân'da Hak Kavramı (2004), Kur'ân'da Yaratılış: Uzayların ve Maddenin Yaratılışı (2004). He also had a website (www.sakirkocabas.com), which is still available.

Mohammad Khan Kayani

He was born in 1935 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He graduated from the University of Punjab in 1951. After studying for four years in Pakistan's Naval Academy, he went to England in 1960 to receive higher education in the field of electronics and telecommunications. During his time in England, he got involved in extensive intellectual and social activities. He worked as the head of the Federation of Islamic Student Societies (FOSİS) and the editor-in-chief of a magazine entitled The Ummah. In 1976, he came to Turkey to work as a foreign expert at TESTAŞ established in Ankara for the development of the electronic industry, and in the meantime he moved the headquarters of The Ummah to Ankara as well. After leaving TESTAŞ, he moved the publishing center of The Ummah to Istanbul, where he also settled (1978). He published the magazine until the military coup of September 12, 1980.He established El Ummah Publishing House but was soon to be forced to close it (1982). He worked as a researcher at IRCICA, and starting from the early 1990's he wrote columns for the dailies of Zaman, Yeni Şafak, and Sağduyu. He became the Turkey representative of a London-based magazine named Impact International (1998-2001). A fluent speaker of Persian, English, and Turkish, Kayani is still engaged in a variety of translating projects and writes books. (as of 2007)

The Mohammad Khan Kayani collection donated to our library consists of books in the fields of Islamic thought and social sciences. Some of his works are as follows:

Epic Of The Man In The Light Of The Quran(1982),The Story of a Freedom(1983), Islamic Perspective of History(1988),and the spokesman of the Alliance of Evil One Billion Muslims Caller(1991), The Islamic World Astonishment(1993), Holy Light Mankind Adventure(1991), Poems Mirror Muhammad Iqbal(1995), From Darkness To The Dazzling Light(1992), Islamist Prime Minister Of Turkey & His Political Thoughts(1996), Iqbal's Poetry, Politics and Philosophy(2000), Iqbal: Philosophy , the world of politics and Poetry (2002), Israelites and Muslims

Ibrahim Kiras

He was born in Istanbul in 1968. He started to publish his poetry in 1987 in the magazines of Argos, Geniş Zamanlar, İkindiyazıları, Defter, Düşler, İkişiir, and Dergâh. From 1994 on, he started writing commentaries on the current political events for the weekly and monthly editions of the İzlenim magazine, and for the Yeni Şafak daily, and later he continued to write his commentaries at Gerçek Hayat. Currently, he works as the Star daily's publishing consultant.

İbrahim Kiras donated to our Foundation's library a portion of his library consisting of 443 volumes.

Sabri Orman

He was born in 1948 in Adıyaman. He is married with four children. He finished the Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute (1972) and Istanbul University's Faculty of Economics (1976). He obtained a PhD in economics in 1981. He became an assistant in 1980, an assistant professor in 1982, and an associate professor in 1986. In the academic year of 1989-1990, he worked as a research scholar in the London School of Economics at the University of London on a research project titled Development of Economic Thought in the Islamic World. He became a full professor in 1993. He worked as a professor of economics in the Department of Economics of the International Islamic University in Malaysia between 1992 and 1994, and in the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) in the same country between 1995 and 1997. And between 2009 and 2011, he held the presidency of the Istanbul Commerce University. Currently, Sabri Orman is a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Turkey. He has written three works entitled Gazali'nin İktisat Felsefesi (1984); Gazali: Hakikat Araştırmacısı, Felsefe Eleştirisi ve Etkisi (1986); İktisat, Tarih ve Toplum (2001).

Abdulhalik Damar

After graduating from the Istanbul Boys' High School, he finished the Department of Business Administration at Boğaziçi University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1985. So far, he has worked as a project specialist at Albaraka Turkish Private Finance Institution, as a shareholding general manager at Emre Yarn and Textile Products Inc., as a shareholding general manager at Erken Packing and Printing Co. Ltd., as a founding partner and manager at Sistem Training and Consulting Co. Ltd., as a consultant at Yıldız Holding Inc., as a co-founder and general manager at Dikey Corporate Training Services, and as a member of the board of directors at Bireysel Promotion and Activity Services Inc. He is currently the vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of Şehir University of Istanbul, a board member of the Foundation for Science and Arts, and a member of the Istanbul Boys' High School Alumni Association and of the Boğaziçi Executives Foundation.

Hüseyin Al

He was born in 1969 in Boyabat, Sinop. He received his primary and secondary education in Istanbul, finished the Ankara Vocational High School of Finance, and obtained his B.A. from Hacettepe University's Department of Finance. After working at the Revenue Board in Istanbul's Kartal district, and at the Foreign Affairs Department of the Turkish Ministry of Finance, he was appointed to the Board of Sworn Bank Auditors at the Undersecretariat of Treasury of Turkey. He stayed in the United States in 1999 for a period of one year. Since 2000, he has been working in the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

He started his academic studies at Istanbul University in 1995 and obtained his M.A. in 1997 with his thesis entitled Tanzîmât [Political Reforms of 1839] Period Banking Activities. He holds another M.A. degree acquired from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his PhD in 2005 from Istanbul University's Institute of Social Sciences with his doctoral thesis entitled Country Risk in the Nineteenth Century, Finance Politics, English Bond Owners and the Babıâli. He taught two courses in 1997 and 1998 in the same university's Faculty of Political Sciences: "Banking Law" and "Banking and Financial Institutions". He currently teaches in the Banking Graduate program at the same university.

Abdusselam Erzen

He was born in 1922 in Sivas. He finished primary school in Çermik, Diyarbakır, secondary school in Gümüşhane, and high school in Trabzon in 1940. He gained admission to the Istanbul Technical University's Department of Mechanical Engineering with a full scholarship in 1941. He graduated in 1947 with an M.A. degree. In the same year, he started work in the iron and steel factories located in Karabük. In 1950, he did his military service in Ankara as a reserve officer of military fortification. In 1952, he married his wife Nebahat and with her had two daughters named Nimet and Nihal. Until his retirement in 1972, he worked in Istanbul. After his retirement, he was able to nurture a much greater interest in books, had much more time to read and formed an extensive library. After a successful and peaceful life lived with his children and grandchildren, he passed away in 2008.

Ali Alioğlu

He was born in 1930 in Kemah, Erzincan. He received his primary and secondary education in Kırıkkale. He graduated from Kayseri High School in 1948, and from Ankara University's Faculty of Agriculture in 1952. After completing his military service as a reserve officer, he started to work in 1954 in Turkey Sugar Factories Inc. He worked as provincial manager in various provinces until 1967. He conducted research on agricultural cooperatives in Germany for six months in 1970. After working as the regional manager of Malatya (1968-1973) and Ankara (1973-1980) of the Sugar Beet Growers Cooperative, he retired in 1980. Until 1984, he worked at Layne Bowler Co. He currently lives in Ankara.

Süleyman İlhami Özden

He was born in 1945 in the village of Bademli in the Ağın district of Elazığ. He finished primary school in the village of Pul and the Imam-Hatip Religious Vocational High School in Elazığ in 1967. In 1973, he graduated from the Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute.

He served as the preacher of Gökçeada (Imbros) and Lapseki in the city of Çanakkale between 1968 - 1969, as the imam-preacher of the Aydınlar Mosque of Istanbul's Şişli district between 1970 - 1974, as the deputy mufti of Istanbul between 1977 - 1978, as a teacher in Belgium from 1980 to 1985, and as deputy mufti of Sakarya from 1985 to 2001. He was appointed as Mufti of Istanbul's Beşiktaş district on Sept. 13, 2001. He retired on Jan. 1, 2010 because of the age limit. He is married with five children.

Sait Açba

He was born on July 10, 1950 in Kütahya. He is a financial economist and lecturer. He graduated from the Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences in Eskisehir. He received his doctoral education at Anadolu University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences located in Afyonkarahisar, and completed it in 1985. In 1990, he became an associate professor of financial economics. He has worked as a lecturer at Afyon Kocatepe University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He has also worked as vice-dean of the Afyon Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences and served as head of the Department of Finance. He served as an MP as a Deputy of Afyonkarahisar during the terms of the 20th, the 21st, and the 22nd Governments. During the 20th Government, he became a member of the Council of Europe. During the 22nd Government, he served as Chairman of the Parliament's Planning and Budget Committee. During the 23rd Government, he was re-elected to assume the same position. Açba is a fluent speaker of English and Arabic, and married with two children.

Tekhnelogos

As a result of the regular contributions made by Tekhnelogos since October 2008 as part of its Project of Social Responsibility, the Tekhnelogos Library was established within the library of our Foundation. It consists of 3,585 books.

www.tekhnelogos.com

Sahaf Ahmet Abi