School of Pharmacy 's Buildings in Istanbul

Turhan Baytop

The teaching of pharmacy in Turkey started in 1839 within the Imperial Medical School in Istanbul and was conducted for a long period (1839-1960) within medical schools. The School of Pharmacy (Eczacı Mektebi), established in 1908 was administrated by the Medical Faculty or the Faculty of Sciences until it became a self-governing institution namely the Faculty of Pharmacy in 1961. This dependence did not allow him to work in a building especially constructed for its own requirements. This article aims to survey the premises where the School of Pharmacy ( Istanbul University ) was located between 1908 -1960.

Following its foundation in 1908 the School of Pharmacy settled in the upper floor of an old wooden building formerly occupied by the "Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Mülkiye" (Civilian School of Medicine). This building, located at the Kadırga district of Istanbul was the ex-mansion of Menemenli Mustafa Pacha. The school functioned there for 18 years. In 1926 the school moved to Beyazıt and the teaching started in a building formerly used as the headquarters of the gendarmerie. It shared this building for 33 years with the School of Dentistry .

In 1940s, as the number of students grew considerably and the teaching programm expanded with new courses and laboratory work, attempts were undertaken to provide a larger building. The efforts by the university rectors Tevfîk Sağlam (1882-1963) and Sıddık Sami Onar (1898-1972), coupled with the assistance of pharmacist parliamentarians, the mansion of Keçecizade Fuad Pacha (1815-1869) was assigned to Istanbul University for the purpose of housing the schools of pharmacy and dentistry. This mansion was formerly used by the Asker Tıp Mektebi ( Military Medical School ) which moved to Ankara in 1952.

The mansion of Keçecizade Fuad Paşa , was designed by the French architect Bourgeois in 1868 and consisted of three buildings. The first one was restored between 1953-59 and the School of Pharmacy settled there in 1959. The second and the third structures were restored and opened in 1967 and 1974 respectively. The earthquake of 17 August 1999 damaged-all the.three buildings of the School of Pharmacy . The departments were then accomodated in some other buildings and the restauration of damaged buildings is still going on.