Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil – turecki wychowanek katolickiej szkoły ojców mechitarystów
Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil – a Turkish Student of the Catholic Mekhitarist Fathers’ School

Summary/Abstract: Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil (1866-1945) is an outstanding Turkish prose writer and autobiographer of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Due to the lack of a suitable school in Izmir, he was sent to the Catholic high school of the Mekhitarist Fathers with French as the language of lecture. He was the only Muslim student. In this school he gained education and knowledge rarely found among Muslims of that period. The introductory parts of the article present the phenomenon of foreign education in the 19th century Ottoman Turkey and the activities of Mekhitarists. The main part of the article is devoted to the image of the Catholic high school in the light of the memories of H. Z. Uşaklıgil Kırk Yıl. It is a very positive picture. The author emphasizes the high level of education, modern curriculum, and emphasis on learning foreign languages and science. The school taught tolerance, instilled in the students the need for discipline and constant deepening of knowledge. Thanks to the skills acquired at this school, Uşaklıgil was able to become a recognized writer, columnist and translator of French literature. The Mekhitarist School, as well as the entire Christian part of the city, ceased to exist after the great fire of Smyrna (1922).

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