Fuat Sezgin

Fuat Sezgin
Born	(1924-10-24)24 October 1924 Bitlis,Turkey
Died	30 June 2018(2018-06-30)(aged 93) Istanbul,Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Alma mater	Istanbul University
Occupation	Science historianacademic
Spouse	Ursula Sezgin
Awards	King Faisal International Prize Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards

Fuat Sezgin(24 October 1924 – 30 June 2018) was a Turkish scholar and researcher who specialized in the history ofArabic-Islamic science.He wasprofessor emeritusof the History of Natural Science atJohann Wolfgang Goethe UniversityinFrankfurt,Germanyand the founder and honorary director of the Institute of the History of the Arab Islamic Sciences there.He also created museums in Frankfurt and Istanbul with replicas of historical Arabic-Islamic scientific instruments, tools and maps.His best known publication is the 17-volumeGeschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums,a standard reference in the field.

Career

Sezgin earned his Ph.D. fromIstanbul Universityunder the German OrientalistHellmut Ritterin 1950. His thesis titled "Buhari’nin Kaynakları"(The Sources of Al-Bukhari) argued that, contrary to the common belief among European orientalists,Al-Bukhari's edition of collectedHadithswas based on written sources dating back to the 7th century as well as oral history. He obtained a position at Istanbul University, but was dismissed in the wake of the1960 coup.He moved to Germany in 1961 and started working as a visiting professor at theUniversity of Frankfurt.He was appointed professor at the university in 1965. His research in Frankfurt focused onIslam's Golden Age of Science.In 1982, Sezgin established the Institute of the History of the Arab Islamic Sciences. Today the Institute houses the most comprehensive collection of texts on the history of Arabic-Islamic science in the world. In 1983 Sezgin also founded a unique museum within the institute, bringing together more than 800 replicas of historical scientific instruments, tools and maps, mostly belonging to the Golden Age of Islamic science. A very similar museum was opened in 2008 in Istanbul.

In 1968, Sezgin found four previously unknown books ofDiophantus'Arithmeticaat theshrine of Imam Rezāin the holy Islamic city ofMashhadin northeastern Iran.

Publications

Fuat Sezgin was the author and editor of numerous publications. His 17-volume workGeschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums(1967-2000) is the cornerstone reference on thehistory of science and technology in the Islamic world.The 5-volumeNatural Sciences of Islamdocuments the items in the Frankfurt museum. He had, since 1984, edited theJournal for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science.

Sezgin had argued that Muslim seafarers had reached the Americas by 1420, citing as evidence the inscription on a map and the fact that the high longitudinal precision of early maps of the Americas would not have been attainable using Western navigational technology.

Awards

Sezgin received several awards, including theKing Faisal International Prizeof Islamic Studies in 1978andOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.He is member of theTurkish Academy of Sciences,the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco andacademies of Arabic Languagein Cairo,DamascusandBaghdad.

Recognition

On 24 September 2012,Melih Gökçek,Mayor of Municipality of Metropolitan Ankara, announced that a square inAnkarawas named in honor of Fuat Sezgin. A relief of him created by artist Aslan Başpınar at the square was revealed the same day in the presence of Fuat Sezgin and his spouse Ursula by the mayor.

External links

• Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften(in German)
• Museum in Frankfurt
• List of Publications by Fuat Sezgin
• Technology and Science in Islam
• Prof.Dr. Fuat Sezgin Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam