EMEL ESİN 1912-1987

Emel Esin was born in Istanbul in 1912. Her father Ahmet Ferit Tek, was a journalist and politician and her mother was Müfide Ferit Tek.

Emel Esin graduated from  Paris École libre des Sciences Politiques Diplomatiques   in 1933. In 1969, she completed her PhD and had the title of art historian with her thesis “Le Dragon dans l’iconographie turque” (Dragon in Turkish iconography) from “Paris Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines”.

Emel Esin is known for her studies in Central Asian Turkish Art, archeology and iconography. Her main pieces of work are: Türkistan Seyahatnamesi – Trip to Turkistan (1959), Turkish Miniature Painting (1960), Mecca the Blessed Madinah the Radiant (1963), Turkish Art in Cyprus (1969) and Sadullah Paşa Yalısı – Mansion of Sadullah Pasha (1984). She attended several conferences and wrote numerous articles, which had an important place in her studies.

Emel Esin married Ambassador Seyfullah Esin in Tokyo in 1941.

TEK‐ESİN Foundation was founded in 1988 by bequest of Emel Esin, which she drafted before she passed away in 1987.  Significant parts of lives of Tek and Esin families were spent abroad due to their jobs. These two families, closely related to the cultural assets of the countries they lived, created a rich library and archive on Turkish history of art in Central Asia.