Official
Kosti Efendi
Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1872/73 (AH 1289). On record 1904 to 1907, 3 annual entries.
Archive reference 148-229-453
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1872/73 (AH 1289), Kosti Efendi came from the Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum) community; the father was a tradesman (esnaf). Kosti had four years of schooling, at a community school (Millet Mektebi), and wrote French as well as Turkish.
At about 28, in 1900/01, Kosti began work in Tekirdağ, with four unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 250 kuruş. From the first annual entry, for 1904/05, to 1906/07, every annual entry places Kosti in the same post, official for foreign communications (Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti), in Thessaloniki (Selanik).
The salary never rose above the first in the lists, 250 kuruş a month in 1904/05, as Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti in Thessaloniki, when 14 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over three years the salaries add up to 9,000 kuruş, 54 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned. The final annual entry is for 1906/07.
Places in order of time#
Each number is a stop: the birthplace, the place of first work, then every place of the annual entries in turn. The year beside an arrow is the first entry at the new place.
Born 1872/73 (AH 1289)
First work 1900/01 (AH 1318)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904/05 | 250 | 450 | 455 | 14% |
| 1905/06 | 250 | 475 | 445 | 14% |
| 1906/07 | 250 | 450 | 350 | 15% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900/01AH 1318 | First work | Tekirdağ | 250first-salary field |
| 1904 to 1907AH 1322 to 1324 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Thessaloniki (Selanik) | 250 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1872/73 (AH 1289)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum)
- Nationality as recorded
- Rum
- Father's occupation
- Esnaf
Education
- Community school
- Millet Mektebi (4 years)community school (school of a non-Muslim community)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 4 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
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1900/01 (AH 1318)
- Place
- Tekirdağ
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 250
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 81 officials with entries in Thessaloniki (Selanik) in the same years, Kosti Efendi had the 72nd highest salary.
- Mehmet Talat Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 15,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Rıza Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Mustafa Nuri Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Mehmet Mazhar Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 204 officials with the title Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti in the same years, Kosti Efendi had the 173rd highest salary.
- Garon Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Taşçıyan Markar Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Acemyan Dikran Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,100 kuruş
- Andon İzekiyan Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Fransuva Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
All 605 officials with the title Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti
Same school
Of the 263 officials with Millet Mektebi among their schools, Kosti Efendi had the 232nd highest salary.
- Agop Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Artin Ernaki Köleyan Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 340 kuruş
- Behor Menahim Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Cebrail Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Fransuva Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 495 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.
- Abdüllatif Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 520 kuruş
- Ahmet Niyazi Beyborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ahmet Rauf Beyborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 530 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Ali Haydar Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 250 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 120 officials whose first annual entry is for 1904/05 (AH 1322), Kosti Efendi had the 58th highest salary.
- Raif Efendifirst entry in Thessaloniki (Selanik); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ali Nazmi Efendifirst entry in Deraci; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Efendifirst entry in Damascus (Şam); highest salary 600 kuruş
- MEHMED YAŞAR EFENDİfirst entry in Afyonkarahisar (Karahisar-ı Sahib); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Isparta; highest salary 300 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (3)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Thessaloniki (Selanik) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 148-229-453 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Thessaloniki (Selanik) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 148-229-453 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Thessaloniki (Selanik) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 148-229-453 |
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 | Kosti Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1289 | 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 | esnaf | 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) | 4 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1318 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1900 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Tekirdag | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 250 | 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 3 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
- Post of official for foreign communications (Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti)
- Thessaloniki (Selanik)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community school (Millet Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum)
- 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)