Ibrahim MUTEFERRIKA

İbrahim Müteferrika (1674, Principality of Erdel - 1745, Istanbul) was an Ottoman printer, publisher, author and translator of Hungarian origin.

Who was İbrahim Müteferrika?

He was the first person to establish a printing house and publish Turkish books in the Ottoman Empire. He lived during the reigns of Mehmed IV and Mustafa II. Müteferrika was born in 1674 in the city of Cluj-Napoca, in what is now Romania, and was originally Hungarian. After the Second Siege of Vienna in 1692, he was captured by the Ottomans and brought to Istanbul. Here he converted to Islam and started working as a Müteferrika. The term "Müteferrika" is the title given to the official who conducted the affairs of the sultan or viziers in the palace. Since he knew more than one language, he took part in delegations with foreign states. He also learned printing and calligraphy during his education in Hungary and desired to establish a printing house in this field.

Printing in the Ottoman Empire

In 1720, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha sent Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi to Paris as ambassador and took his son Mehmed Said Efendi with him. While Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi provided important information about France in his embassy book, his son brought many innovations to the Ottoman Empire. While in Paris, Mehmed Said Efendi visited a printing house and decided to establish a printing house when he returned to Istanbul. Upon his return to Istanbul, Mehmed Said Efendi met İbrahim Müteferrika and started to work on establishing a printing house together. Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha supported these initiatives and the establishment of the printing house was authorized on the condition that only non-religious works would be printed. In addition, a fatwa was obtained from Şeyhülislâm Abdullah Efendi for the printing of non-religious books and approval was obtained from Ahmet III.

On December 16, 1727, the first printing house named Darü't-Tıbâati'l Amire was established. The printing press's machines and Latin alphabet molds were procured from abroad. The source of the Arabic alphabet molds used is uncertain, but according to some findings, they were made by Müteferrika. A paper factory (Kağıthane-i Yalakabad) was also established in Yalova. In 1729, the first work of the printing press, the Vankulu Lügatı, was printed. Afterwards, a total of 17 works in the fields of history, geography and dictionary were printed and the number of volumes of these works reached 22. Among the printed works is a map of the Marmara Sea.

Influence and Legacy

İbrahim Müteferrika died in 1745 and his body was buried in the Aynalıkavak Cemetery in Istanbul. In 1942, with the efforts of Reşid Saffet Atabinen, his body was transferred to the cemetery of the Galata Mevlevîhânesi. Müteferrika's contribution to the Ottoman Empire

After his death, the permission to operate the first printing press he had established was granted to İbrahim Efendi, one of the kadi of Rumelia, and Ahmed Efendi, one of the kadi of Anatolia. However, this duo only managed to print one book in 1757, and this was the second edition of the Vankulu Lügatı that Müteferrika had printed. After 1757, the printing press did not operate for a long time, until 1784. İbrahim Müteferrika's efforts to establish and operate the printing press on Ottoman soil is his greatest legacy. The works published after the opening of this first printing press contributed to the spread of knowledge and cultural development in the Ottoman Empire. Today, the original works printed by Müteferrika are exhibited at the İbrahim Müteferrika Paper Museum in Yalova. There is also a statue of him in the Sahaflar Bazaar in Istanbul, adjacent to the Grand Bazaar. This statue symbolizes his important role in the spread of printing in the Ottoman Empire and his cultural heritage.