The natural history collection of the Darüşşafaka: An evaluation from the perspective of the history of science

Darüşşafaka, founded by the Cemiyet-i Tedrisiye-i İslamiye to educate the orphans was one of the leading educational institutions in 19th century Turkey, due to the special emphasis it gave to science education. Its natural history museum established in 1880s witnesses this emphasis. The collection was created by Colonel Dr. Hüseyin Remzi (1839-1896), in order to improve the zoology, botany, mineralogy and geology education. Collection samples are presently exhibited in the Darüşşafaka Museum, located at its campus at Maslak, Istanbul. The collection includes minerals, fossils, mammal skeletons, animal specimens in chemicals, and taxidermized birds and mammals. This thesis aims to evaluate the collection from the perspective of the history of science, and to reveal the relationship between the natural history collections in Turkish schools and the modernisation movement in education of the 19th century. The collection was first classified, then inventorized, and research started to find out in which circumstances the collection was created. An examination of the material was conducted to reveal the impact of collection on education. This thesis also showed - in the example of Darüşşafaka - how natural history collections that emerged in Europe in the 16th century, were introduced into the Ottoman educational institutions in the 19th century.