Pertev Demirhan

Sait Pertev Demirhan was born in Istanbul on 24 May 1871 as the son of Mustafa Nuri Paşa of Ioannina. After Kuleli Military High School, he entered the Military Academy; he graduated from the Academy in 1889 and from the Staff College in 1892 as a staff captain. Pertev Demirhan, who knew German, French and English, was sent to Germany in 1894 to further his military education.

During his years in Germany, he trained under the patronage of Goltz Paşa and returned to Istanbul in 1898 with the rank of major. In 1904 he was sent to Manchuria to observe the Russo-Japanese War; his observations within the Japanese army later became a source for his military memoirs and studies.

During the Balkan War and the First World War, he served in various headquarters and corps posts. He was Chief of Staff of the Sixth Army, commander of the 1st and 4th Corps, Inspector of Military Schools, Director of the General Staff War History Branch, member of the Geography Council and member of the Military Court of Cassation. In 1928 he rose to the rank of lieutenant general and retired in 1931 because of the age limit.

Alongside his military duties, Pertev Demirhan was a productive writer, especially on war memoirs, military history and Japan. Balkan Harbi’nde Büyük Karargâh, Hayatımın Hatıraları: Rus-Japon Harbi 1904-1905 and Japonların Asıl Kuvveti are among his known works.

In the Republican period he also entered politics and served in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as deputy for Erzurum in the 5th, 6th and 7th terms.

Pertev Demirhan died on 10 May 1964 and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery at the foot of the grave of his father Mustafa Nuri Paşa.