Official
Kosti Efendi
Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1871/72 (AH 1288). On record 1889 to 1897, 8 annual entries. Death recorded 1897/98.
Archive reference 0088_0114: 223
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1871/72 (AH 1288), Kosti Efendi came from the Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum) community; the father was a postal official (posta memuru). Schooling took four years, at a community school (Millet Mektebi); Kosti also wrote French, Greek (Rum) and Turkish.
Work began in Istanbul in 1888/89, at about 17, with one unpaid year as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 50 kuruş. Every annual entry from 1889/90 to 1896/97 places Kosti in Istanbul, the birthplace, first as a postal official (Posta Memuru), from 1895/96 as an official for incoming items (Mevrude Memuru).
Pay rose from 50 kuruş a month in 1889/90 to a peak of 250 in 1893/94, as Posta Memuru in Istanbul, when 13 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, eight years of salary come to 15,240 kuruş, 31 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. After the last annual entry, for 1896/97, the list of 1897/98 (AH 1315) gives the status word Vefat (death).
Career and salary#
Log scale: equal steps are equal ratios. The median of the same title is drawn for the years in which at least 5 officials with that title had a salary.
The numbers of the chart
| Year | Salary | Median, all officials | Median, same title | Paid less |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1889/90 | 50 | 500 | 380 | 0% |
| 1890/91 | 60 | 500 | 380 | 1% |
| 1891/92 | 60 | 500 | 350 | 2% |
| 1892/93 | 100 | 500 | 350 | 3% |
| 1893/94 | 250 | 500 | 350 | 13% |
| 1894/95 | 250 | 500 | 380 | 13% |
| 1895/96 | 250 | 500 | 327.5 | 13% |
| 1896/97 | 250 | 500 | 300 | 13% |
Paid less: the share of the other officials with a salary that year who earned less.
Point at a year for its salary, title, place and the median of all officials paid that year. Choose a row of the table to mark its years in the charts and its stop on the map.
| Years | Title | Place | Salary (kuruş a month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1888/89AH 1306 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 50first-salary field |
| 1889 to 1895AH 1307 to 1312 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 50 to 250 |
| 1895 to 1897AH 1313 to 1314 | Mevrude Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Death recorded | ||
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1871/72 (AH 1288)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum)
- Nationality as recorded
- Rum
- Father's occupation
- Posta Memuru
- Death recorded
- 1897/98 (AH 1315)the year of the annual list with the word Vefat, not a date of death
Education
- Community school
- Millet Mektebi (4 years)community school (school of a non-Muslim community)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 1 year
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Low
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- NoShown as in the flag of the paper. The qualification column of the recovered extract gives yes.
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- Greek (Rum)
- Kitabetwriting. Rum is the word of the records for Greek as spoken by the Orthodox Christians of the empire. It is kept apart from the column Greek, which the records also have
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1888/89 (AH 1306)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 50
Recorded with#
Officials who share a place, a job title, a school, a birthplace or the year of the first annual entry. Ranks compare the highest monthly salary of each official.
Same place, same years
Of the 823 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Kosti Efendi had the 737th highest salary.
- Emil Efendi8 shared years; highest salary 9,000 kuruş
- Salahattin Bey8 shared years; highest salary 7,800 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey8 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey8 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Fahri Efendi8 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 146 officials with the title Posta Memuru in the same years, Kosti Efendi had the 138th highest salary.
- Unnamed official (0067_00229; sayfa no:455-456)6 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Ruantuvan Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
- Mustafa Hakkı Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 700 kuruş
- Mehmet Nuri Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 630 kuruş
- Abdullah Fikri Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
Same school
Of the 263 officials with Millet Mektebi among their schools, Kosti Efendi had the 232nd highest salary.
- Avram Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 150 kuruş
- Dahan Berhordar Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Halil Fazıl Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 450 kuruş
- İstepan Çakmak Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Karabet Fikri Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 300 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Kosti Efendi had the 1,554th highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Bahaattin Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Ahmet Cevdet Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 900 kuruş
- Ahmet Hamdi Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 210 kuruş
- Ahmet Hamdi Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Ahmet Hulusi Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 700 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 116 officials whose first annual entry is for 1889/90 (AH 1307), Kosti Efendi had the 104th highest salary.
- Hüseyin Recai Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Mehmet Ziyaettin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 675 kuruş
- Mustafa Haydar Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,800 kuruş
- Hasan Tahsin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Kadri Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 60 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (8)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1889/90AH 1307 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 50 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1890/91AH 1308 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 60 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1891/92AH 1309 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 60 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1892/93AH 1310 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 100 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1893/94AH 1311 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1894/95AH 1312 | Posta Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Mevrude Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Mevrude Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0088_0114: 223 |
What the sources named in this table are
- Recovered annual personnel extract
- The merged annual personnel file recovered for the replication of the first paper. Annual entries are taken from it for every official it holds.
Sources and original values (15)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Kosti Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1288 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | dersaadet | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | dersaadet | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | Posta Memuru | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Religion | Hristiyan | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Nationality or community | Rum | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Schooling | ||
| School | Millet Mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 4 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1306 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1889 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | istanbul | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 50 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Status | ||
| Death recorded under the year (AH) | 1315 | Earlier annual personnel extract (original copy); Earlier annual personnel extract (parallel copy) |
What the sources named in this table are
- Earlier annual personnel extract (original copy)
- A copy of the earlier annual personnel file, read for the title wording of each year. A death taken from it is the status word Vefat in the title field of one annual list: the year is the year of that list, not a date of death.
- Earlier annual personnel extract (parallel copy)
- A second copy of the earlier annual personnel file, read in the same way. A death taken from it is the status word Vefat in the title field of one annual list: the year is the year of that list, not a date of death. Two copies that agree are one piece of evidence, not two.
- Earlier annual personnel extract
- The detailed annual personnel file of October 2024. An official found only in this file keeps the years, titles and salaries it gives.
- Recovered annual personnel extract
- The merged annual personnel file recovered for the replication of the first paper. Annual entries are taken from it for every official it holds.
- Personnel attributes extract
- The detailed personnel file of September 2025, read for personal details such as birth, schooling and first work.
- Origin of the record: Post and Telegraph personnel records.
- 8 annual entries of 8 belong to the saved estimation sample of the paper.
How to read this record: calendar years, years without an annual entry, salaries and sources.
Subjects
- Kosti Efendi
- Postal official (Posta Memuru)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community school (Millet Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum)
- Official for incoming items (Mevrude Memuru)
- Biography of an Ottoman official (Osmanlı memurunun biyografisi)
- Career and pay (memuriyet ve maaş)
- Ottoman history (Osmanlı tarihi)
- Ottoman bureaucracy (Osmanlı bürokrasisi)
- Ottoman officials (Osmanlı'da memurlar)
- Ottoman personnel registers (Sicill-i Ahvâl defterleri)
- Ottoman registers (Osmanlı defterleri)