Abstract:

One of the most important turning points in the history of Turkish higher education is the famous criticism, which was referred in the literature as the 1933 reform, in which Darülfünun was transformed into Istanbul University. This transformation resulted in significant debates not only in our educational, but also political and cultural terms. One of the striking aspects of this event, which is still influencing even the present day with its various aspects, was the settlement of German scientists of Jewish origin, who had to leave their country mainly due to Hitler's pressure, as refuge in some countries including Turkey. In fact, the causes-and-results of the 1933 reform were identified with these academics, and their existence was employed as a subject of the process for positive or negative evaluation of the reform. In this respect, this study focused on Ord. Prof. Dr. Philipp Schwartz, who coordinated the process of the aforementioned refugee German academics to come to Turkey, started to teach in Turkish having learned our language shortly after his arrival in our country, became a citizen of the Republic of Turkey in 1948 and stayed in Turkey until 1952. Memories, newspaper news and archive documents about the period were used in the study. Schwartz, whose views on our higher education system and contributions to the institutionalization of medical education are unique, stands out with his detections about the higher education system and his interest in our country. Understanding Schwartz and his contributions is considered to provide a different perspective in evaluating the outcomes of the higher education reform.

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