Muhibbe Darga

Who is Muhibbe Darga?

Muhibbe Darga is grand daughter of Darugazade Mehmet Emin Bey, Sultan Abdülhamid’s first chamberlain, the poet and translator of Jules Verne’s novels from French into Turkish. Born in 1921 in a historical mansion with its suites allotted to ladies and gentlemen respectively, in Istanbul’s Asian part,

She was brought up by French governesses. She studied in Paris and Istanbul. Her father was a doctor and because of her father’s professional obligations, she traveled through the Anatolia of the 1930s with her family. Roman and Greek history, debates on art and literature were the staple fair at the dinner table of this intellectual family of the late Ottoman era. Moreover the family celebrated all religious rituals of the city like Christmas, Easter, Ramadan and sacrificial festivals, organizing fancy dress parties.

Muhibbe Darga attended Istanbul University’s Hittitology Department at the beginning of the 1940s. She would meet many notables of Archeology at this faculty, founded by Prof. Theodor Bossert who fled from Germany to Turkey. Her enthusiasm and extravert personality, excellence in French and German and of course passion for Archeology drew attention.