Education
Sezgin earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Istanbul University under the German Orientalist Hellmut Ritter in 1950.
historian mathematician university professor writer
Sezgin earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Istanbul University under the German Orientalist Hellmut Ritter in 1950.
He also created museums in Frankfurt and Istanbul with replicas of historical Arabic-Islamic scientific instruments, tools and maps. His best known publication is the 13-volume Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums, a standard reference in the field His thesis titled "Buhari’nin Kaynakları" (The Sources of First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Bukhari) argued that, contrary to the common belief among European orientalists, First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Bukhari"s edition of collected Hadiths was based on written sources dating back to the 7th century as well as oral history.
He obtained a position at Istanbul University, but was dismissed in the wake of the 1960 coup.
He moved to Germany in 1961 and started working as a visiting professor at the University of Frankfurt. He was appointed professor at the university in 1965.
His research in Frankfurt focused on Islam"s Golden Age of Science. In 1982, Sezgin established the Institute of the History of the Arab Islamic Sciences.
Today the Institute houses the most comprehensive collection of texts on the history of Arabic-Islamic science in the world.
In 1983 Sezgin also founded a unique museum within the institute, bringing together more than 800 replicas of historical scientific instruments, tools and maps, mostly belonging to the Golden Age of Islamic science. A very similar museum was opened in 2008 in Istanbul. In 1968, Sezgin found four previously unknown books of Diophantus" Arithmetica at the shrine of Imam Rezā in the holy Islamic city of Mashad in northeastern Iran.
On 24 September 2012, Melih Gökçek, Mayor of Municipality of Metropolitan Ankara, announced that a square in Ankara was named in honor of Fuat Sezgin.
A relief of him created by artist Aslan Başpınar at the square was revealed the same day in the presence of Fuat Sezgin and his spouse Ursula by the mayor.