The last great professor from Mülkiye: How to live a life?

It is not easy to know how many books Professor İlber wrote or how many articles he prepared throughout his academic life.

His works reached a wide readership.

Due to our low number of readers, he tried to deliver his writings to citizens in short, aspirin-like doses on both television and social media.

He tried to provide the enlightenment that would normally be achieved by reading hundreds of books—a trend that does not exist anyway—through his own individual efforts via a shortcut.

And he succeeded.

Because he knew many languages, he was our professor who best analyzed the East and the West.

His instructive explanations regarding both Ottoman history and Republican history prevented our nation, which had believed in reports claiming "there are secret clauses in the Treaty of Lausanne," from falling into the wrong paths, at least to some extent.

He saved science from being trapped within academia.

He prepared books that everyone could easily understand by simplifying heavy academic texts.

When I read the latest work by our professor, Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı, titled "How to Live a Life?" (Bir Ömür Nasıl Yaşanır?), I was extremely pleased to find that I had already followed almost all of his recommendations.

May God have mercy on our professor, who will rank first on the list of the most venerable professors of the last century.

Condolences to Turkish academia.