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Andrew Mango obituary
Writer on Turkey who produced a notable biography of Atatürk
Jonathan Fryer
theguardian.com, Monday 21 July 2014 12.01 BST
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/21/andrew-mango
Andrew Mango produced his best books about Turkey in his retirement,
including a biography of the founder of modern Turkey, Atatürk.
Photograph: Ben Mango
The polyglot bon vivant is a figure more usually associated with the
19th century than the 21st, but Andrew Mango, who has died aged 88,
proved that it was still possible to be a scholar - in his case of
Turkish studies - and a gentleman. For three decades he was based at
Bush House, then home to BBC World Service radio, initially working
for the Turkish and French language sections before becoming head of
the South East European Service until his retirement in 1986.
Successive Turkish ambassadors and others seeking expert advice beat a
path to his office door, assured of brilliant conversation over drinks
from his well-stocked cocktail cabinet.
Though he had published a couple of books on Turkey for the general
reader while still working for the BBC, it was during the long years
of his fruitful retirement at his home in Barnes, south-west London,
that he produced his most significant work, including a magisterial
biography of the founder of modern Turkey, Atatürk (2000), and From
the Sultan to Atatürk (2009). The scholarship was impeccable, but some
of his historical and journalistic interpretations were controversial,
notably his belief that the military coups of 1960 and 1980 had been
necessary to avoid the country slipping into civil war, and his
assertion that the Armenian massacres of 1915 did not amount to
genocide.
When Andrew was born in Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey was a mere
three years old. He was the middle of three sons of a successful
barrister, Alexander Mango, who was of mixed Italian and Greek origin,
and his wife, Adelaide Damonov, a refugee from Bolshevik Russia.
Despite the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the
first world war, Istanbul was still one of the great cosmopolitan
cities of the world and Andrew was soon fluent in a range of
languages, including both Ottoman and modern Turkish, English, French
and Greek. This enabled him, while still a youth, to get a job as a
translator in the press office of the British Embassy in Ankara during
the second world war - a post that qualified him for a second-class
diplomatic passport.
In 1947 he moved to Britain, to study at London University's School of
Oriental and African Studies, culminating in a doctorate in Persian
literature. His older brother, Tony, moved to the US, but the youngest
sibling, Cyril, followed in Andrew's footsteps, later becoming
professor of Byzantine and modern Greek at Oxford University.
Andrew Mango during his BBC years Photograph: Ben Mango
Andrew could easily have found a comfortable berth in academe himself,
but he was far too interested in politics and international affairs,
which made Bush House the ideal niche. He also kept abreast of what
colleagues outside the BBC were thinking through his membership of the
UK section of the Association of European Journalists. Though a
convinced European, he believed Turkey to be better off outside the EU
than in.
Until his final illness, Andrew was a regular visitor to Turkey, where
he was feted as an author who understood the complexities of the
country and its culture. He was awarded several honorary doctorates at
Turkish universities, as well as the Turkish Distinguished Service
Medal.
In 1956 he married the journalist Mary Muir. She survives him, as do
their children, Daphne and Benedict, four granddaughters and two
brothers.
* Andrew James Alexander Mango, author, born 14 June 1926, died 7 July 2014
Writer on Turkey who produced a notable biography of Atatürk
Jonathan Fryer
theguardian.com, Monday 21 July 2014 12.01 BST
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/21/andrew-mango
Andrew Mango produced his best books about Turkey in his retirement,
including a biography of the founder of modern Turkey, Atatürk.
Photograph: Ben Mango
The polyglot bon vivant is a figure more usually associated with the
19th century than the 21st, but Andrew Mango, who has died aged 88,
proved that it was still possible to be a scholar - in his case of
Turkish studies - and a gentleman. For three decades he was based at
Bush House, then home to BBC World Service radio, initially working
for the Turkish and French language sections before becoming head of
the South East European Service until his retirement in 1986.
Successive Turkish ambassadors and others seeking expert advice beat a
path to his office door, assured of brilliant conversation over drinks
from his well-stocked cocktail cabinet.
Though he had published a couple of books on Turkey for the general
reader while still working for the BBC, it was during the long years
of his fruitful retirement at his home in Barnes, south-west London,
that he produced his most significant work, including a magisterial
biography of the founder of modern Turkey, Atatürk (2000), and From
the Sultan to Atatürk (2009). The scholarship was impeccable, but some
of his historical and journalistic interpretations were controversial,
notably his belief that the military coups of 1960 and 1980 had been
necessary to avoid the country slipping into civil war, and his
assertion that the Armenian massacres of 1915 did not amount to
genocide.
When Andrew was born in Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey was a mere
three years old. He was the middle of three sons of a successful
barrister, Alexander Mango, who was of mixed Italian and Greek origin,
and his wife, Adelaide Damonov, a refugee from Bolshevik Russia.
Despite the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the
first world war, Istanbul was still one of the great cosmopolitan
cities of the world and Andrew was soon fluent in a range of
languages, including both Ottoman and modern Turkish, English, French
and Greek. This enabled him, while still a youth, to get a job as a
translator in the press office of the British Embassy in Ankara during
the second world war - a post that qualified him for a second-class
diplomatic passport.
In 1947 he moved to Britain, to study at London University's School of
Oriental and African Studies, culminating in a doctorate in Persian
literature. His older brother, Tony, moved to the US, but the youngest
sibling, Cyril, followed in Andrew's footsteps, later becoming
professor of Byzantine and modern Greek at Oxford University.
Andrew Mango during his BBC years Photograph: Ben Mango
Andrew could easily have found a comfortable berth in academe himself,
but he was far too interested in politics and international affairs,
which made Bush House the ideal niche. He also kept abreast of what
colleagues outside the BBC were thinking through his membership of the
UK section of the Association of European Journalists. Though a
convinced European, he believed Turkey to be better off outside the EU
than in.
Until his final illness, Andrew was a regular visitor to Turkey, where
he was feted as an author who understood the complexities of the
country and its culture. He was awarded several honorary doctorates at
Turkish universities, as well as the Turkish Distinguished Service
Medal.
In 1956 he married the journalist Mary Muir. She survives him, as do
their children, Daphne and Benedict, four granddaughters and two
brothers.
* Andrew James Alexander Mango, author, born 14 June 1926, died 7 July 2014