Ertegun, Mehmet Munir

Born in 1883 in the family of official Mehmet Jamil Bey and his wife Aisha Hamid Khanim, who was the daughter of a Sufi sheikh. In 1908, Munir Ertegun graduated from Istanbul University. Then he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ^[3] . In 1920, Ertegun joined the delegation heading for Ankara to meet with a group of nationalist revolutionaries led by Ataturk . The two ministers who were part of the delegation could not reach an understanding with the nationalists, so the ministers returned to Istanbul. Ertegun also joined the revolutionaries in Ankara ^[3] . Münir Ertegün became one of Atatürk's assistants during the war of independence and later joined the delegation that signed the Treaty of Lausanne on behalf of Turkey.

After Western countries recognized the Republic of Turkey Ertegün was sent to Geneva as an observer from Turkey in the League of Nations . From Geneva, Munir Ertegun often traveled to Paris, where negotiations were held regarding the fate of the debts of the Ottoman Empire. Then Ertegun served as ambassador to Switzerland (1925-1930), France (1930-1932), Great Britain (1932-1934) ^[4] and the United States (1934-1944). Died November 11, 1944 in Washington from a heart attack. Due to the Second World War, Ertegün’s body was delivered on the ship USS Missouri only in April 1946 ^[5] . Munir Ertegun was buried in Uskudar ^[6] , later his sons Ahmet and Nesukhi were also buried there ^[7] .

At the time of Ertegün’s death, there was no mosque in Washington to bury him, so the Islamic Center was built.

Personal life

In 1917, Munir Ertegun married Emine Khairunnis Ruustem. They had three children. The sons of Munir Ahmet and Nesuhi became famous music producers.