The physician who keeps our art history alive: Süheyl Ünver

Link: Sanat tarihimizi yaşatan hekim: Süheyl Ünver

The Artist Gülbün Mesara

“We are not  obliged to revive the past, but must draw strength from it” A.S. Ünver

“Süheyl Ünver’s rich and diverse archive is currently scattered across several locations. He  has around two thousand notebooks, personal files and publications at the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library.  Also, a considerable number of notebooks, paintings and documents are being  preserved  at  the Turkish Historical Society in Ankara and at the Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty in Istanbul. Likewise, some are in your in your personal archive. Have you ever considered or attempted to bring Süheyl Ünver’s archive together?Is today’s Turkey aware of the value of this legacy?”

During his lifetime, my father Süheyl Ünver donated parts of his handwritten manuscripts and achives to various institutions, by his own will. Resultingly, his  collection is presently scattered. He entrusted his personal collection to me. Assembling this scattered archive back together no longer seems possible. Therefore, I haven’t undertaken any initiative in that direction. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that some institutions in today’s Turkey are unaware of this  collection’s  true worth.

As per the distribution of the Ünver archives:

In the 1970s, during the transfer of his office from Istanbul University to the  Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty,  my father donated a significant number of his  artworks, watercolor paintings, manuscripts  and personal files to the Turkish Historical Society in Ankara. His motive for such a donation was his personal desire to share his collection with art  enthusiasts  in Ankara.

Another donation by Ünver,  comprising of his art files and travel notebooks (mostly about his records during his visits to historical Turkish cities) was made to the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul, a place he loved dearly and visited almost weekly.

After Ünver’s decease, we, as his family, prepared and dedicated a room in his name at this library,  as per his  will,  and  enriched it further with additional donations from his personal archive.