13.03.2026 19:10
The will of the late historian Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı has emerged. In a previous interview, when asked, "Do you have a will regarding your grave?" he responded, "It will probably be in Gallipoli. I don't want it here. I don't like crowds."
Due to health issues, the 78-year-old distinguished historian Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı, who has been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Koç University Hospital and was intubated, has worsened in health. Prof. Dr. Ortaylı passed away at the age of 79 despite all interventions.
"I SUPPOSE IT WILL BE GALLIPOLI" It has been learned that Ortaylı revealed his will in a past interview. In that interview, when asked, "Do you have a will regarding your grave?" he responded, "I suppose it will be Gallipoli. I don't want to be here. I don't like crowds."
WHO IS İLBER ORTAYLI? He was born in 1947 in Bregenz, Austria. He completed his primary and secondary education in Istanbul and Ankara. He graduated from Ankara Atatürk High School in 1965. In 1968, he graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences and the Department of History at Ankara University. Later, he studied Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Vienna.
He completed his master's thesis with Prof. Halil İnalcık at the University of Chicago. In 1978, he received his doctorate degree from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University with his thesis titled "Local Administrations After the Tanzimat." In 1979, he became an associate professor with his work titled "German Influence in the Ottoman Empire," and in 1989, he became a professor. He has served as a visiting faculty member at universities in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Princeton, Moscow, Rome, Munich, Strasbourg, Ioannina, Sofia, Kiel, Cambridge, Oxford, and Tunis, giving seminars and conferences. He has published articles related to Ottoman history from the 16th to the 19th century and Russian history in both domestic and foreign scientific journals.
Between 1989 and 2002, he served as the Head of the Department of Administrative History at the Faculty of Political Sciences, and in 2002, he moved to Galatasaray University, and two years later to Bilkent University. In 2005, he was appointed as the Director of Topkapi Palace. He is still carrying out this duty. He is currently also teaching history courses at Galatasaray University. İlber Ortaylı is also a board member of the International Ottoman Studies Committee and a member of the European Society of Iranian Studies. He speaks Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Arabic, Persian, German, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Russian, Slovak, Romanian, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian.