Ahmed Salahaddin Efendi

Ahmed Salahaddin Bey was born in Istanbul in 1878 as the son of Asiye Hanım and İbrahim Muhiddin Bey, a staff colonel. He belonged to the Hasırcıbaşızâde family. He graduated from the Mekteb-i Mülkiye in 1900 and became one of the late Ottoman intellectuals known for his command of French and Greek and for his interest in law and political thought.

After civil service, he began teaching international law at the Law Branch of the Darülfünun and in 1913 was appointed director of the Darülfünun Faculty of Law. He wrote works on international law, diplomatic history and political thought. Among his main books are Berlin Kongresi’nin Diplomasi Tarihine Bir Nazar, Mülahhas Hukuk-ı Umûmiyye-i Beyne’d-Düvel, Makedonya Meselesi ve Balkan Harb-i Âhiri, and Hukukî ve Siyasî Tetebbular, published after his death.

During the Armistice years, Ahmed Salahaddin Bey’s name was associated with the pro-independence intellectual and political circles of Istanbul. After the occupation of İzmir, he was among the speakers at the great meeting held in Fatih Park on 19 May 1919, together with Halide Edib, Hüseyin Ragıp, Tahsin Fazıl and Meliha Hanım. He also attended the Saltanat Şûrası of 26 May 1919 as the representative of the Darülfünun and defended the principle of national will and full independence against the idea of mandate and protection.

Elected deputy for Istanbul in the 1919 elections, Ahmed Salahaddin Bey served on the administrative committee of the Felâh-ı Vatan group in the last Ottoman Chamber of Deputies. This group soon became one of the main parliamentary supporters of the National Pact. Ahmed Salahaddin Bey died eight days before the proclamation of the National Pact and did not live to see its adoption.

His son Haldun Taner, born to his wife Seza Hacer Hanım, became one of the major figures of Turkish short story and theatre literature in the Republican period. Haldun Taner lost his father when he was only five years old and later gave a special place to Ahmed Salahaddin Bey’s memory in his writings.

Ahmed Salahaddin Bey died on 20 January 1920. By the will of Sultan Vahdeddin, he was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery; his funeral was carried to Fatih in a large ceremony attended by students and professors of the Darülfünun.