Münir Ertegün
| Münir Ertegün | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ambassador of Turkey to Switzerland | |
| In office 1925–1930 | |
| President | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk |
| Preceded by | Refik Birgen |
| Succeeded by | Cemal Hüsnü Taray |
| Ambassador of Turkey to France | |
| In office 1930–1932 | |
| President | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk |
| Ambassador of Turkey to the United Kingdom | |
| In office 1932–1934 | |
| President | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk |
| Preceded by | Ahmet Ferit Tek |
| Succeeded by | Ali Fethi Okyar |
| Ambassador of Turkey to the United States | |
| In office 1934–1944 | |
| President | Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, İsmet İnönü |
| Preceded by | Ahmet Muhtar Mollaoğlu |
| Succeeded by | Hüseyin Ragıp Baydur |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mehmet Münir Cemil 1883 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 1944 (aged 60–61) Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Sultantepe, Üsküdar, Istanbul |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Children | Ahmet Ertegün (son), Nesuhi Ertegün (son), Selma Göksel (daughter) |
| Alma mater | Istanbul University |
| Profession | Diplomat |
Mehmet Münir Ertegün (1883 – 11 November 1944) was a Turkish legal counsel in international law to the "Sublime Porte" (imperial government) of the late Ottoman Empire and a diplomat of the Republic of Turkey during its early years. Ertegün married Emine Hayrünnisa Rüstem in 1917 and the couple had three children, two of whom were Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün, the brothers who founded Atlantic Records and became iconic figures in the American music industry.
Life and career
Born in Istanbul to a civil servant father, Mehmet Cemil Bey, and a mother Ayşe Hamide Hanım, who was a daughter of Sufi shaykh İbrahim Edhem Efendi, he studied law at Istanbul University and graduated in 1908. He was a close figure and aide to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk during the Turkish War of Independence and the chief legal counsel of the Turkish delegation to the resulting Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
After the Western powers recognized the newly founded Republic of Turkey in 1923, he was sent to Geneva to the League of Nations as an observer for the Turkish Republic. During this assignment, he frequently went to Paris for the Ottoman public debt negotiations. Following this posting to the League of Nations, he was appointed ambassador to Switzerland (1925–1930), France (1930–1932), the United Kingdom (1932–1934)[1] and the United States (1934–1944). As the Republic's first ambassador to Washington, Ertegün opened his embassy’s parlors to African American jazz musicians, who gathered there to play freely in a socio-historical context which was deeply divided by racial segregation at the time.[2] He held this last post until he died in Washington, D.C. of a heart attack in 1944. In April 1946, a year after World War II had ended, his body was carried back to Istanbul by the USS Missouri[3] and buried in the garden of Sufi tekke, Özbekler Tekkesi in Sultantepe, Üsküdar near his shaykh grandfather İbrahim Edhem Efendi, who was once the head of the Tekke.
When Ertegün died, there was not yet a mosque in Washington D.C. at which his funeral could be held. The Islamic Center of Washington was built as a result.
See also
References
- ↑ "History of Turkish Embassy in London, England". Government of Turkey. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ↑ Main Jazz Day Events hosted by Turkey in Istanbul
- ↑ Thomas A. Bryson, 'Tars, Turks, and Tankers: The Role of the United States Navy in the Middle East,' Scarecrow Press, Inc., Metuchen, NJ, and London, 1980, 90.
External links
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