Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi (; 1609 – 1640) was an Ottoman scientist, inventor, chemist, astronomer, physician, Andalusi musician, and poet from Istanbul, reported in the writings of traveler Evliya Çelebi to have achieved sustained unpowered flight.
Etymology of name
The title "Hezârfen", given by Evliyâ Çelebi to Ahmed Çelebi, is from Persian هزار hezār meaning -a thousand- + فنّ fann meaning -science together making it together Ahmed having talents in "a thousand of sciences (polymath).
Legacy
- One of 4 airports in Istanbul is named the "Hezarfen Airfield".
- A 1996 feature-length film, "Istanbul Beneath My Wings" (İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında) concerns the lives of Hezârfen Ahmet Çelebi, his brother and purported rocket aviator Lagari Hasan Çelebi (per the same single source, Çelebi, as the above story), and Ottoman society in the early 17th century, as witnessed and narrated by Evliya Çelebi.
- The Turkish children’s TV show “Little Hezarfen” (Küçük Hezarfen) is about Hezârfen Ahmet Çelebi's childhood, though the events that occur within the show are likely fictitious and/or exaggerated. A main theme within the show, however, is Hezarfen's desire to build wings that allow him to fly.
- Also featured in Turkish series "Magnificent Century: Kosem" in episode 41.
See also
- Lagâri Hasan Çelebi
- Abbas ibn Firnas