Official
MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Kastellorizo (Meis) in 1866/67 (AH 1283). On record 1884 to 1906, 2 annual entries.
Archive reference 0156_0023; 43
Life#
Born in Kastellorizo (Meis) in 1866/67 (AH 1283) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community, MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ was the child of a ship's captain (kaptan). MEHMET ZEKİ was taught by a private teacher. In all MEHMET ZEKİ knew five languages, Arabic, French, Greek (Rum), Persian and Turkish, all in writing; fewer than 2 per cent of the 5,211 officials knew as many.
At about 18, in 1884/85, MEHMET ZEKİ began work in Kastellorizo, paid from the start, on 300 kuruş a month. Every annual entry from 1884/85 to 1905/06 places MEHMET ZEKİ in the same post, communications official (Muhabere Memuru), in Kastellorizo, the birthplace. Only 41 of the 1,586 officials whose entries span 20 years or more kept one title in one place throughout.
The salary went from 300 kuruş a month in 1884/85 to 400 in 1905/06, the peak, when 38 per cent of paid officials earned less. The final annual entry is for 1905/06.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1884/85 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 11% |
| 1905/06 | 400 | 475 | 330 | 38% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1884/85AH 1302 | First work | Kastellorizo (Meis) | 300first-salary field |
| 1884/85AH 1302 | Muhabere Memuru | Kastellorizo (Meis) | 300 |
| No annual entry: 1885 to 1905 (AH 1303 to 1322) | |||
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Kastellorizo (Meis) | 400 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1866/67 (AH 1283)
- Birthplace
- Kastellorizo (Meis)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- kaptan
Education
- Private teaching
- Hususi Muallim (4 years)private teacher (not a school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0 years
- 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
- Arabic
- Kitabetwriting
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- Persian
- 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
- 1884/85 (AH 1302)
- Place
- Kastellorizo (Meis)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 300
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 job title, same years
Of the 1,196 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ had the 762nd highest salary.
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey2 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey2 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet İhsan Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Nikola Yunani Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 1,350 kuruş
- Mustafa Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 2 officials born in Kastellorizo (Meis), MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ had the highest salary.
- Mehmet Zeki Efendiborn 1866/67 (AH 1283); highest salary 200 kuruş
The page of Kastellorizo (Meis), with the 2 officials born there
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 67 officials whose first annual entry is for 1884/85 (AH 1302), MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ had the 56th highest salary.
- Abdülmuttalip Muhlis Efendifirst entry in Baghdad (Bağdat); highest salary 700 kuruş
- Aleksan Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Ali Bedri Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 540 kuruş
- Artin Noris Efendifirst entry in Bergama; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Frangül Terziyan Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 750 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (2)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1884/85AH 1302 | Muhabere Memuru | Kastellorizo (Meis) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0156_0023; 43 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Kastellorizo (Meis) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0156_0023; 43 |
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 (14)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1283 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | meyis | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | cezairi bahri sefid | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | kaptan | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| Religion | Musluman | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Nationality or community | Turkish | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Schooling | ||
| School | Hususi Muallim | 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) | 0 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1302 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1885 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Meyis | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 300 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
What the sources named in this table are
- 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.
- 2 annual entries of 2 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
- MEHMET ZEKİ EFENDİ
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Kastellorizo (Meis)
- Private teacher (Hususi Muallim)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- 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)