Mustafa Rıfat Gülek

41st International Congress for the History of Pharmacy, September 10-14, 2013, Paris - FRANCE
Bilge Sözen Şahne
Selen Yeğenoğlu
Hacettepe University Faculty of Pharmacy
Department of Pharmacy Management
Introduction
Anatolia is the origin of many
civilizations. Moreover, it is one of
the most remarkable and searched
region in the world history. This is
also important for the history of
pharmacy. It’s known that many
important people for pharmacy
history like Galenos from ancient
Roman civilization lived in Anatolia
too.
Introduction
On the other hand, Çukurova
which is in the southern part of
Turkey has a special place with
its productivity and its
hospitality. Thus, Adana City in
Çukurova region is important
for Turkish history of pharmacy.
ADANA
Why
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek?
Most of the pharmacy owners
were minorities in the last
period of the Ottoman Empire.
Monsieur Mustafa Rıfat Gülek
showed the success of opening
his own pharmacy in Adana
City.
He served devotedly in war
and peace for Adana and
Turkey. Besides he became a
role model with his exemplary
behavior.
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek ‘s
Initial
Phase of
Pharmacy
Profession
Mustafa Rıfat’s father Hacı
Mehmet Efendi’s family came
from the same city (Belh in
Afghanistan) with Mevlana
(Rumi) to Adana in 13th
century.
Mustafa Rıfat was born in 1878
in Adana during the last
period of the Ottoman Empire.
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek ‘s
Initial
Phase of
Pharmacy
Profession
In 1890, there were six
pharmacies in Adana while the
city’s population was 45 000.
Mustafa Rıfat was the first person
who went to Istanbul from Adana
for university education. And he
was chosen by the notable
persons of Adana for serving as a
pharmacist.
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek ‘s
Initial
Phase of
Pharmacy
Profession
He was graduated in 1900
from the School of Pharmacy.
Then he opened his own
pharmacy in 1902 in Adana
Abidinpaşa.
It was the first Turkish pharmacy
in that district.
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek ‘s
Initial
Phase of
Pharmacy
Profession
In that period, physicians
were allowed to examine
their patients in community
pharmacies.
Thus in Mustafa Rıfat’s pharmacy,
many important physicians of
Adana had the chance to serve
their patients. Therefore the
pharmacy contributed to the
public health as well.
Being a
Pharmacist
During the
War Years
With the beginning of the First
World War, especially in the
Çanakkale War (Dardanelles –
Gaillipoli Battle), Mustafa Rıfat
took part for helping Turkish
Army. In this context, he produced
some medical devices which were
sent to Çanakkale.
Being a
Pharmacist
During the
War Years
Çukurova’s famous cottons
were prepared as absorbent
cotton for medical dressing of
wounded soldiers by him.
Moreover other crucial
medicines like antiseptic
medicines and other medical
dressing equipment like
gauzes were sent to the front
lines free of charge under
the leadership of Mustafa
Rıfat.
Being a
Pharmacist
During the
War Years
After the Armistice of
Mondros signed, there was
an occupation. And Mustafa
Rıfat’s signature was in the
first document against this
occupation. He and his
friends showed their
reactions for the occupation
with this document
Feryadname (Letter about
clamor). It was written in 11
December 1918 and was
published in 13 December
1918 in many newspapers.
This was the first reaction
against the occupation of
Anatolia.
Being a
Pharmacist
During the
War Years
Furthermore, he had some
political missions during the
First World War and the
Turkish Independence War.
He made some meetings about
the independence of Turkish
people in the second floor of
his pharmacy.
With the
Being a proclamation of
Pharmacist the Turkish
Republic,
During the Mustafa Rıfat
War Years Gülek continued
both his healthcare
professional service and his political
mission. Besides serving to the
public in his pharmacy, he was also
elected to the Adana Aldermanship for
several times (first time was in 1939)
due to this success.
The
Pharmacy
of
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek
Mustafa Rıfat Gülek prepared
several handmade drugs like
restorative syrups and syrups
for couching.
In addition, his pharmacy was
an educational place for many
important healthcare
professionals like the first woman
pharmacist in Adana: Mahmure
Talay Butur.
The
Pharmacy
of
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek
Until his death in 1947, Mustafa
Rıfat raised generations besides
providing his pharmaceutical
services.
The
Pharmacy
of
Mustafa
Rıfat
Gülek
After his death, his family tried to
continue his pharmacy for a while.
But it had to be closed down. In the
beginning of 1990’s, this pharmacy
was on fire unfortunately. Nevertheless
Gülek Family donated the pharmacy
to the Turkish Pharmacists Association
under the condition that the pharmacy’s
restoration will be made according to its
originality.
Its restoration ended in 2003.
The ground floor opened as
Pharmacy again in 2004. The
The
second floor began to serve as a
Pharmacy library with 1500 books in 2005. In
of a part of the pharmacy, some
equipments from Mustafa Gülek are
Mustafa displayed. The mentioned building
Rıfat is one of
the first
Gülek restored
building
in Adana.
For All Altruist Pharmacists
and Mustafa Rıfat Gülek
The pharmacy of Mustafa Rıfat Gülek is a witness
of the collapse of Ottoman Empire and the rise of
Turkish Republic. There are many pharmacists like
Mustafa Rıfat Gülek who served to public
devotedly all around the world. So it is very
important bringing to the agenda the stories of
pharmacists to new generations for understanding
the importance of our profession. We must never
forget that we owe them the place where our
profession stands as community pharmacists
today.
We want to thank to the students of Hacettepe University Faculty of
Pharmacy; Sena İstanbulluoğlu, Gülsüm Büşra Aydın, Ezgi Etral,
Melek İpek Göktaş, Ayşe Merve Uçan, Ayşe Kuş, Kunter Kunt, İrem
Yalçın, Emel Şaşmaz and Emin Ahmet Saraçoğlu for providing
current pictures and documents about the pharmacy in this
presentation.