Veysel Rıza Bey

Veysel Rıza Bey was born in Gümüşhane in 1871 as the son of Zarbunzâde Osman Nuri Efendi. He completed his primary and secondary education in his hometown; after the rüşdiye, he studied Arabic in the madrasa and French with private teachers.

He began his official career in 1885 in the clerk’s office of the Gümüşhane Court of First Instance and later served in the Correspondence Office of Gümüşhane Liva. These correspondence offices were essential bureaucratic units in provincial and sanjak administration, handling official correspondence, records and administrative procedures. Following this line, Veysel Rıza Bey served as director of correspondence in Muş, Acre and Gümüşhane, and for a time also worked as a rüşdiye teacher and public prosecutor.

In 1914 he was elected Gümüşhane deputy to the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies and served in the Third Term of the parliament. After the Chamber was closed, he returned to his hometown and took part in the foundation work of the Anatolian Defence of Rights Society in Trabzon and Gümüşhane during the National Struggle.

On 6 April 1920 he was elected Gümüşhane deputy to the First Grand National Assembly of Turkey and joined the Assembly on 19 May 1920. When he was appointed governor of Gümüşhane Sanjak that same year, he resigned from parliament on 6 January 1921, in accordance with the regulation prohibiting the same person from combining a parliamentary seat with an official post. He thus served as one of the last governors of Gümüşhane Sanjak during the transition from Ottoman rule to the administration of the National Struggle.

Veysel Rıza Bey was again elected Gümüşhane deputy in the 1923 elections and also served in the Second Grand National Assembly. His family took the surname “Zarbun” in the Republican period.

Veysel Rıza Bey died in 1924 during a journey to Istanbul. His body was brought to Istanbul and he was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.