Rauf Yekta Bey

Rauf Yekta Bey — Biography

Born Mehmed Rauf in Istanbul's Fatih district in 1871, he later became known as Rauf Yekta Bey after his calligraphy teacher, Nasûhî Efendi, gave him the honorific "Yekta." A composer, musicologist, and ney player, he pioneered scholarly research into the theory of Turkish classical music and was among the founders of Dârülelhan, established in 1917 as the precursor to today's Istanbul Municipal Conservatory.

A member of the Mevlevi Sufi order, Rauf Yekta served as chief neyzen at several mevlevihanes (dervish lodges). He died of typhoid fever in Istanbul on 8 January 1935, and some accounts report that composer Cemal Reşit Rey later described him as a "martyr of music." His research remains a key reference point in the study of Turkish music to this day.