An American in the last century of the Ottoman Empire: Cyrus Hamlin

Cyrus Hamlin, one of the most prominent American missionaries, was an important figure who accomplished great things in the Ottoman Empire, where he arrived on January 17, 1839. Hamlin was sent to Istanbul primarily for the Protestantization of the Armenian community and the education of the people of the region. Within the framework of this mission, the students of his college made a significant contribution to the independence of Bulgaria. In the following period, he trained people for the Bulgarian bureaucracy. During his 35 years of missionary work in Ottoman lands, he was able to overcome many difficulties he encountered, sometimes with threats, sometimes with clever moves. Our thesis focuses on the development of the organization that started education and training under the name Bebek Theological Seminary and turned into Robert College in 1863, the life and ideals of Hamlin, its founder. In the light of his own comments, both the public and the educational aspects of missionary activities are analyzed and their results are revealed. The fact that other American colleges and minority schools opened after Robert College, which Hamlin founded, modeled their methods and techniques after his methods and techniques can be credited to his success. The American Board organization initially criticized Hamlin for objecting to his methods of education and teaching, and Hamlin resigned from the organization. However, the fact that these teaching and training methods were later adopted by the organization was yet another proof of Hamlin's success. Producing bread in the bakery he opened, meeting the bread needs of the British hospital and army, establishing a laundry to clean the clothes of his soldiers, supplying coffee to the army, and training his students in crafts in the workshops he established in the school are among the successful examples of Hamlin's entrepreneurship. With his determined, hardworking and farsighted nature, Hamlin became a person who was widely talked about even centuries later thanks to what he accomplished in Anatolia. Understanding him will make it easier for us to understand how the personalities he raised became the shapers of the societies in which they lived.