Mirza Gökgöl: Plant Scientist, Seed Collector, Agronomist, Breeder and Archaeo-Botanist

Year 2020, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 1 - 10, 01.01.2020

Alptekin Karagöz

Abstract

Mirza (Hacızade) Gökgöl (1897-1981) was an outstanding scientist with multiple talents and he had worked as plant
scientist, seed collector, agronomist, plant breeder, botanist and archaeo-botanist. Despite the many challenges, he faced
during his education and business life, he made many innovations, published several books and articles in the area of seed
science, agronomy, wheat systematic, plant breeding and even archaeo-botany. The purpose of this review article is to
recognize and appreciate Mirza Gökgöl’s contributions to the scientific world.
After completing his Ph. D. program in Germany, M. Gökgöl established Istanbul Yeşilköy Agricultural Research Station,
performed extensive seed collecting missions for landraces and wild relatives of cultivated crops, mainly of cereals,
performed characterization and breeding programs with the collected germplasm, contributed to development of Crop
Domestication Theory (Gene Centres Theory), published numerous scientific research papers and books on Turkey’s plant
genetic resources, highlighting their significance and adverse effects of their likely loss. His publications are still among
the mostly credited references in the area of plant genetic resources.
Most of the bibliographic information cited here is extracted from his personal file kept at the archive of the Ministry
of Agriculture and Forestry, Turkey. Apart from the archival information, I have also referred to members of his family
through personal communications, to his publications and all the available published materials about Gökgöl.

Keywords

Seed, seed collecting, biography, plant breeding, genetic resource

References

• Gökgöl M (1935). Türkiye buğdayları, Tom I (Wheats of Turkey-Die türkischen Weizen, Vol. I). Tarım Bakanlığı, İstanbul-Yeşilköy Tohum Islah Enstitüsü Yayını, No. 7 (Min. of Agric. İstanbulYeşilköy Seed Improvement Inst. Publ 7). Devlet Matbaası İstanbul (in Turkish, with German summary)
• Gökgöl M (1938). Samen, die bei den Ausgrabungen in Alaca Höyük im Jahre 1936 gefunden worden sind (Seeds found during the excavations at Alaca Höyük in 1936). In: Koşay HZ (1938). Ausgrabungen von AlacaHöyük (Excavations from Alaca Höyük). Pp 185-186. Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara.
• Gökgöl M (1939). Türkiye buğdayları. Tom II (Wheats of Turkey-Die türkischen Weizen, Vol. II). Tarım Bakanlığı, İstanbul-Yeşilköy Tohum Islah Enstitüsü Yayını, No. 14 (Min. of Agric. İstanbulYeşilköy Seed Improvement Inst. Publ 14) Ankara, (in Turkish, with German summary)
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