Cahit Arf was born in Selanik (Thessaloniki), which was then a part of the Ottoman Empire. His family migrated to Istanbul with the outbreak of the Balkan War in 1912. The family finally settled in Izmir, where Cahit Arf received his primary education. Upon receiving a scholarship from the Turkish Ministry of Education, he continued his studies in Paris and graduated from the École Normale Supérieure. Returning to Turkey, he taught mathematics in a high school in Istanbul. In 1933, he joined the Mathematics Department of Istanbul University. In 1937, he went to Gottingen and completed his Ph.D. thesis under the supervision of Helmut Hasse in 1938.
He returned to Istanbul University and worked there till 1962, and then joined the Mathematics Department of Robert College in Istanbul. Professor Arf was at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton during 1964-1966. Later, he visited the University of California, Berkeley for one year. Upon returning to Turkey, he joined the Mathematics Department of the Middle East Technical University, and in 1980, he retired from this University. Professor Arf received several awards for his contributions to Mathematics, among them are the Inonu Award 1948, the TÜBİTAK Science Award 1974, and the Commandeur des Palmes Académiques 1994. Professor Arf was a member of the Mainz Academy and the Turkish Academy of Sciences. He was the president of the Turkish Mathematical Society from 1985 until 1989. Cahit Arf passed away on December 26, 1997, in Bebek, Istanbul, at the age of 87.
The collected works of Cahit Arf were published in 1988 by the Turkish Mathematical Society.
Professor Arf's influence on Turkish Mathematics was profound. Although he had very few formal students, almost all of the present-day active mathematicians of Turkey had, at some point in their careers, fruitful discussions with him on their field of interest and received support and encouragement.
There is an annual Arf Lecture series, delivered by leading mathematicians, to commemorate Cahit Arf.
Some articles and interviews on Cahit Arf
- A Lecture by Cahit Arf, 26 Mayıs 1991
- Some articles published in Bilim ve Teknik journal
- Arf Lecture 2019 by Geordie Williamson
- Söyleşi: Dünyaca ünlü matematikçimiz Cahit Arf'ı 111. doğum gününde anıyoruz! - Prof. Dr. Yıldıray Ozan, Prof.Dr. Zafer Nurlu, Prof.Dr.Turgut Önder
- The Collected Papers of Cahit ARF
- Here is a gallery of articles and interviews (in Turkish):
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