An academician who makes everyone from 7 to 70 love history: İlber Ortaylı

İlber Ortaylı was born in 1947 in Bregenz, Austria. He is the child of a Crimean Tatar family. At the age of 2, he immigrated to Turkey with his family. After graduating from Ankara Atatürk High School, he preferred Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences for university education. Later, he also studied history. He was a student of Halil İnalcık, great historian professor.

İlber Ortaylı did his master's degree at the University of Chicago with the late Halil İnalcık. The Turkish history professor İlber Ortaylı, called the living library, is an academician who makes everyone from 7 to 70 love history.

Ortaylı studied Language, History and Geography in Vienna. In 1974, he started to work as a doctor at Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences. He was promoted to associate professorship with the study of German Influence in the Ottoman Empire. İlber Ortaylı, who opposed the academic policies of the state, resigned as a reaction. After his resignation, he worked as a visiting lecturer in many countries. He returned to Turkey in 1989 and became a professor. He published articles on Ottoman and Russian history in many foreign and local magazines. He worked as a guest lecturer at Galatasaray and Bilkent universities, one of the leading universities in Turkey.

He became the Head of the Museum at the Topkapı Museum and retired in 2012 due to the age limit. Last year, he was deemed worthy of the Presidential Culture and Art Award in the field of history. İlber Ortaylı, a great master of history who speaks 7 languages, has written many books during his academic life and has been awarded various awards.