Background
Garih, Uzeyir was born on June 28, 1929 in Istanbul, Turkey. Son of Ezra and Adel Garih.
Garih, Uzeyir was born on June 28, 1929 in Istanbul, Turkey. Son of Ezra and Adel Garih.
He graduated from İstanbul Technical University ranking in the Dean"s Honors list. He received his Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1951. Later in 1984, İstanbul Technical University granted him with an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate degree.
Garih successfully served in the Turkish Air Force as a reserve officer Being one of the best engineers of the country, he started his career at the İstanbul agency of Carrier Corporation in the field of heating, vantilation and air conditioning. In 1954, he joined İshak Alaton in founding what became Alarko Holding, for which he served as president and co-chairman until 2001.
Today, Alarko is an enterprise, which is active in six major business sectors, namely contracting, energy, industry and trade, tourism, land development and sea food products.
Alarko Group employs more than 6,000 people in one of Turkey"s largest construction companies, as well as organizations, which carry out projects involving natural gas installations, hydro-electric and thermal power plants, hotel management and salmon farming, not only in Turkey, but also in the Middle East, Russia, and Commonwealth of Independent States countries. Garih, as an international business leader, philosopher, and nationwide teacher, has written more than 200 articles in various newspapers and magazines.
He has written eight books entitled "My Experiences", which were bestseller books in Turkey for several years. He has written 18 books in total.
He was a columnist in the newspapers Akşam and in the Turkish Daily News as well as panelist in television programs.
He was one of the highest ranked lecturers and opinion leaders among the major Turkish university circles. He gave more than 300 lectures at various universities. He was a teacher for Master of Business Administration students in Yeditepe University of İstanbul.
He was also appointed as the Honorary Consul General of the Republic of the Philippines in İstanbul.
He was fluent in speaking and writing Turkish, English, French, and Spanish. After a religious funeral ceremony at the Neve Shalom Synagogue, he was laid to rest at the Ulus Sephardi Jewish Cemetery.
The murderer was captured ten days later, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. The reasons behind this killing are still debated to this day.
He was also a board member of International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences. He was the president of Turkish Developers" Association, the president of Turkish-Belgian Business Council, and council member of the Chamber of Industry. He was a member of World Presidents Organization (WPO) and senior member of Rotary Club Istanbul.
Married Lili Lev, March 25, 1956. Children– Dalia Garih Herz, Izzet.