Türkiye bids farewell to pioneering philosopher İoanna Kuçuradi

ISTANBUL

A memorial ceremony is held for the prominent Turkish philosopher and academic İoanna Kuçuradi at Maltepe University in Istanbul on Oct 4.

Türkiye mourned the loss of İoanna Kuçuradi on Oct. 4, celebrating the life of a seminal thinker and champion of philosophical education who passed away at 89, just two days short of her 90th birthday.

Kuçuradi died at Maltepe University Faculty of Medicine Education and Research Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment. A memorial ceremony was held at 11 a.m. at Maltepe University’s Mimar Vedat Çakırca Conference Hall, followed by her burial at 1:30 p.m. at the Şişli Greek Orthodox Cemetery.

Over nearly seven decades in academia, Kuçuradi placed human dignity, values, ethics, freedom and human rights at the center of her work. She viewed philosophy not merely as a theoretical discipline, but as a means of examining how people understand and treat one another.

Central to her philosophy was the conviction that human rights belong to everyone, even those we disagree with or dislike. For her, human rights were not mere legal protections, but a fundamental framework for how we treat one another.

Born in Istanbul on Oct. 4, 1936, Kuçuradi graduated from Istanbul University’s Department of Philosophy in 1959 and completed her doctorate in 1965 with a thesis on the concept of the human in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. She taught at Atatürk University in Erzurum before moving to Hacettepe University in 1969, where she founded its philosophy department and headed it until her retirement in 2003.

She became an associate professor in 1970 and a full professor in 1978. She was also a founding member of the Turkish Philosophy Institution, established in 1974, and served as its president from 1980 onward.

Her international influence was equally significant. Kuçuradi served as secretary-general of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP) from 1988 to 1998 and as its president from 1998 to 2003, later becoming its honorary president. She also chaired UNESCO’s Philosophy and Human Rights Chair and served on the International Commission Against the Death Penalty.

Her numerous works include Human and Its Values, Ethics, Looking at Art Through Philosophy and Human Rights: Concepts and Problems. She also translated major works by Immanuel Kant into Turkish. Her book The Law Required by Justice was published in 2023.

Her death prompted tributes from academics, human rights organizations and politicians. Hacettepe University highlighted her contribution to the institutionalization of philosophy in Türkiye, while the Human Rights Association described her as both an accomplished scholar and a longstanding human rights advocate.

Kuçuradi leaves behind a 70-year intellectual legacy spanning philosophy, ethics and human rights, as well as generations of students and scholars shaped by her work.