Founded at Asmalı Meydan in 1909 by Mehmet Sadık Efendi, Ece Ajandaları’s agendas have been used by a wide range of people, including some of the country’s most important historical figures, many of whose diaries are featured in the current show.At the time, there were Greek-Ottoman Turkish and Armenian-Ottoman Turkish diaries, but no completely Ottoman Turkish ones, says Seydali Gönel, an administrator at Ece Ajandaları, in an interview with Today’s Zaman. As the first Turkish and Muslim diary company, coupled with the fact that its diaries were published in both the Ottoman-Arabic alphabet and the Turkish-Latin alphabet, Ece Ajandaları stood apart from other diaries and caught the attention of collectors, he emphasizes. Their diaries were used by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, İsmet İnönü, Adnan Menderes and many other pivotal politicians from Turkey’s history, in addition to many prominent Turkish artists.
Prepared by the third generation of the family that founded the company, the show features 40 diaries from various periods, mainly focusing on the early years of Ece Ajandaları’s history: the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim, deputy Mithat Aydın, Muhiddin Arif Mardin Bey and Rubabe Ar used Ece Ajandaları at the time, and their diaries are currently being displayed in the show. The exhibition also includes two diaries belonging to Nihat Erim, written in his own handwriting.
“Unfortunately we could not locate the oldest diary, published in 1910. The oldest one in the show is a black one from 1917, published in Ottoman Turkish, and the newest is our latest design that we started to produce this year, named ‘Avrasya,’ which brings together all our classic qualities,” says Ali Muhsinzade, an administrator at Ece Ajandaları. Asked how they managed to find all of these diaries, Gönel and Ali Muhsinzade explain that they contacted the known collectors and visited many second-hand bookshops, where they found many Ece diaries.
“Each page of these diaries tells the story of a different world. We really hope that one day we can found a publishing house as well and publish books based on the emotions and thoughts written on the pages of Ece diaries,” Gönen says, adding that while preparing the show they wanted it to reflect their century-old vision. “We intended it to reflect our humble, elegant, simple and traditional quality -- our authenticity. For this reason we did not choose a regular form of exhibition hall. We wanted to celebrate the birthday of Ece Ajandaları in the place where it was born 100 years ago,” explains Muhsinzade.
Ece Ajandaları is now producing special collections for students, people in the business world and even tourists visiting İstanbul. The show, titled “Gün Uzar 100 Yıl Olur” (A Day Becomes a Century), will run until Dec. 12 at Asmalı Meydan.
