The Story of the “Thinker” Statue, Symbol of Bakırköy

In the garden of Bakırköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Hospital in Turkey in the 1950s. This blood continued until he took his place. As the architect of every strange thing, the story of us Turks making this statue is based on a very remarkable reason.

The sculpture has become much more famous in our country than the original. But for us Turks, this statue is “mind” identified with the hospital.

When we look at what has been said, the statue depicts a mental patient who was lying there.

Rumors about the statue, of course, varied over time. If no one knows exactly why According to another rumor, the statue was dedicated to Ord, the founder of the hospital. prof. Dr. He was depicting Mazhar Osman. Having worked on the history of the hospital, Dr. According to Şahap Erkoç, the story of the statue being erected in Bakırköy sounds more appealing.

Dr. During the period when Fahri Celal Göktulga was the chief physician, landscaping was done at the hospital. The chief physician, on the other hand, thought that this famous statue, which he saw in a magazine, would suit the hospital garden, and the construction of the statue began.

The construction of the statue was started by Kemal Künmat in 1951.

Auguste Rodin

Kunmat, during his reign Rodin’s fan He was a sculptor with a mental illness and was in that hospital for a while due to his illness. When it was heard that he had very famous statues, an offer was sent to make the statue. When Künmat accepted the offer, he moved the giant rock mass to the area where the sculpture would be made.

This giant rock was shaped in the hands of Kümnat. Thinking Man gradually took shape. Künmat told the hospital management that he wanted a reward for his labor. The amount he wants in return is a very high amount compared to today’s conditions. Although the hospital management could not give him this response, it was not enough even though he was hosted in the best rooms and in the best conditions. Kümnat left the hospital without completing the statue.

The statue in question waited to be completed for about 6 months with a missing hand.

The original version of the statue.

As time passed, an officer sent to the hospital for depression treatment says that he is interested in painting and sculpture. This officer, named Mehmet Pişdar, rolled up his sleeves to complete the statue and At the end of 41 days, this wonderful statue emerges.

So, does it make any sense to have such a statue in the garden of the mental hospital?

Journalists who saw the statue asked the head of the hospital, Fahri Celal Göktulga, why there is a statue of a thinking man in a mental hospital. Göktulga, half jokingly, half seriously, said, “The condition of those outside the hospital is worse than those inside, this statue wonders what will happen to them” answers the question.

Complementing the statue, Mehmet Pişdar writes his memories of spending in the hospital in 1952 under the title of “3.5 years in a madhouse” in Milliyet Newspaper.

In the newspaper, Pişdar wrote the following sentences about himself and the sculpture he made: “Although I have an innate love and aptitude for fine arts, I did not want to overdo it. As a matter of fact, this art will not be a goal for me, but will remain a means. The thing I respect most about this art is that it is not ungrateful. People were able to convey a meaning to every stone and earth, but never to a person.”

A person who tells his troubles to stone and soil, but he cannot tell people his troubles. Who’s crazy now, who’s smart?

The life of Auguste Rodin, the original artist of The Thinking Man, has always had its ups and downs with women.

Camille Claudel, who he met in 1883 and who was also a sculptor The relationship with him lasted for years, while this time was very valuable for Rodin, it went down in history as a very difficult period for Claudel. It was so difficult that the woman, whose mental health deteriorated at the end of this relationship, accused Rodin of stealing her ideas and making plans to kill her while she was tearing up her own works. Claudel, who was eventually admitted to a mental hospital, completed his life here until his life was over.

As a result of the great delusions besides the love he had made for a woman, he the work of a sculptor who was sentenced to a mental hospital It is very meaningful that he is in a mental hospital in the same way today.