Who was Traugott Fuchs?
Traugott Fuchs was a German linguist, teacher, painter and translator. He was born in Alsace, a border region between France and Germany, in 1906.
He studied Romance languages, German language and literature, art history and philosophy at several German universities.
When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, his Romance languages professor Leo Spitzer was dismissed from the University of Cologne because of his Jewish heritage. Fuchs opposed this injustice and was therefore persecuted by the National Socialists himself. In 1934, he left Germany and fled to Turkey. Many other scholars did the same, as they found protection and new job opportunities there.
Unlike many of his German-speaking colleagues, Traugott Fuchs remained in Turkey for the rest of his life. He initially worked at the Foreign Language Institute of Istanbul University, and later also at Robert College, which later became Boğaziçi University. There he taught German and French literature.
During the Second World War, Fuchs was exiled to the city of Çorum by the Turkish government. German citizens were given an ultimatum to leave the country or face internment. Fuchs refused to return to Germany and was interned in Çorum for over 13 months. Despite the difficult conditions, he used his forced stay to paint intensively.
With the help of colleagues at Robert College, he was able to resume teaching in Istanbul in 1945. In addition to his work as a lecturer, he translated books and also wrote his own texts.
When Traugott Fuchs died in Istanbul in 1997, he left behind numerous documents, letters, notes and drawings. This estate was administered for many years by his student Prof. Dr. Süheyla Artemel and then transferred to the Archive and Documentation Centre of Boğaziçi University. From there, it finally came to the Orient Institute Istanbul, where it was completely recatalogued with the support of the Cultural Preservation Programme of the Federal Foreign Office. His life and work are now accessible for academic research in the Traugott Fuchs Archive.
Traugott Fuchs was a man between cultures: the son of a French mother and a German father, he came to Turkey and found a new home there. Through his work in research, art and teaching, he helped to build bridges between Germany and Turkey.
Text and collage by Amina Yıldırım
