Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi
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Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi (Turkish: Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi) (1609 – 1640), who lived in the 17th century in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, is claimed by some to be one of the first aviators to have succeeded in flying with artificial wings.
In 1638 he glided with artificial wings from the top of Galata Tower in Istanbul and managed to fly over the Bosphorus, landing successfully on the Doğancılar square in Üsküdar.[citation needed] The few people known to have succeeded in this kind of flight are an aviator from Moorish Spain and an English monk in the 9th and 12th centuries, respectively.
Ahmet Celebi, because of his vast scientific knowledge was given the name Hezarfen, meaning “a thousand sciences” (polymath). In his early studies of flying, he was motivated by the 10th century Turkish scientist Ismail Cevheri. Celebi, after carefully studying Cevheri’s findings and when he felt confident enough arranged a public demonstration. He climbed the Galata Tower and launched himself into the wind; he passed over the Bosphorus and landed in the slopes of Üsküdar on the Anatolian side.
This event created a great sensation. Sultan Murad IV was delighted and wanted to give an award to Hezarfen but religious leaders and palace advisors -- being envious of Hezarfen -- soon made the Sultan change his mind.[citation needed] Hezarfen was exiled to Algeria where he soon died at the age of thirty-one.[citation needed]
Being one of the three airports in Istanbul, Hezarfen Airfield is a good example of the Turks' fidelity to this hero.
Hezarfen's brother, Lagari Hasan Celebi, is claimed to have performed the first flight with a rocket in a conical cage filled with gun powder.[citation needed]
İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında (Istanbul Under My Wings, 1996) is a film about the lives of Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi, his brother Lagari Hasan Çelebi, and the Ottoman society in the early 17th century, during the reign of Murad IV, as witnessed and narrated by Evliya Çelebi, the greatest traveler of the Ottoman period whose books provide us most of the knowledge that we have today on the Ottoman cities, provinces and daily life as a whole.
