The archive of Ateşizâde Mehmed Bedreddin Selçukî (1868-1926), who worked as the chief clerk at the Ministry of Education (today’s National Education Ministry), has been made accessible at archives.saltresearch.org.
Salt Research, Archive of Ateşizâde Mehmed Bedreddin Selçukî
The collection added to the Salt Research Education Archive includes records dated from 1890 to 1925 and focuses on education. The archive consists of biographies of approximately 7,000 individuals who served in the Ministry of Education, as well as drafts of educational books, Ateşizâde’s correspondence, and family photographs. The biographies are classified from A to Z and include stories of teachers, clerks, staff, hafız-ı kütüb (librarians), inspectors, and directors who worked under the Ministry, along with doctors, captains, corporals, lieutenants, brigadiers, majors, district governors, commanders, artists, translators, and painters who served in various institutions of the Ottoman Empire.
About Ateşizâde Mehmed Bedreddin Selçukî
Ateşizâde Mehmed Bedreddin Selçukî was born in 1868 in Beşiktaş (Istanbul). His father was Ali Rıza Efendi, the chief coffee maker of Nazime Sultan. His wife was Safiye Hanım, the daughter of Mehmed Emin Bey. After his education at Sıbyan Mektebi, Emirgan Rüşdiyesi, and Soğukçeşme Military Rüşdiyesi, he attended the Language School for about three years but left without obtaining a diploma due to eye problems. In 1884, at the age of 16, he began working as an apprentice in the Dersaadet Customs Accounting Office. In 1885, he became a clerk in the Ministry of Education’s Primary Schools Administration. From 1886 to 1892, he served as a clerk and inspector in the Inspectorate of Non-Muslim and Foreign Schools, the Schools Commission, the Primary Schools Administration, the Food and Supplies Commission, and the Commission for the Investigation of Authors under Zühtü Pasha. He authored literary and scientific works such as Telhis-i Tarih-i Osmânî, Telhis-i Coğrafya, Risale-i İmla, and Saika-i Aşk. He inspected schools in İzmit, Sapanca, Adapazarı, Geyve, Akhisar, Mekece, Taraklı, and Hendek to reform schools and ensure the provision of income for school administrations. In 1909, he was appointed to the Istanbul Provincial Education Administration as chief clerk, and in April 1919, he was assigned to the Library Inspectorate, in June 1919 to the Document Classification of the Primary Education Administration, and in September 1920 to the First Branch of the Primary Education Administration. In 1921, he was awarded the second-class education medal and passed away on April 7, 1926, while serving as a file clerk in the Ministry of Education’s Teaching Department.
Source: Salt Research Archive of Ateşizâde Mehmed Bedreddin Selçukî https://saltonline.org/tr/2638