Official
Mehmet Lütfi Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1879/80 (AH 1297). On record 1902 to 1908, 6 annual entries.
Archive reference 118-97-189
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1879/80 (AH 1297), Mehmet Lütfi Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a district governor or lieutenant colonel (kaymakam). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
Work began in Gevaş in 1898/99, at about 18, with four unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 300 kuruş. The first annual entry, for 1902/03, places Mehmet Lütfi in Gevaş as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru). The last posts were in Kırklareli from 1904 to 1907 and Niksar in 1907/08.
The salary went from 300 kuruş a month in 1902/03 to 400 in 1907/08, the peak, as Muhabere Memuru in Niksar, when 56 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, six years of salary come to 22,800 kuruş, 71 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The final annual entry is for 1907/08.
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 1879/80 (AH 1297)
First work 1898/99 (AH 1316); 1902 to 1904 (AH 1320 to 1321)
300 kuruş a month; entries in 2 years
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03 | 300 | 500 | 380 | 21% |
| 1903/04 | 300 | 475 | 350 | 23% |
| 1904/05 | 300 | 450 | 350 | 23% |
| 1905/06 | 300 | 475 | 330 | 23% |
| 1906/07 | 300 | 450 | 300 | 25% |
| 1907/08 | 400 | 300 | 250 | 56% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99AH 1316 | First work | Gevaş | 300first-salary field |
| 1902 to 1904AH 1320 to 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Gevaş | 300 |
| 1904 to 1907AH 1322 to 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Kırklareli | 300 |
| 1907/08AH 1325 | Muhabere Memuru | Niksar | 400 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1879/80 (AH 1297)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Kaymakam
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 4 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Low
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- No
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1898/99 (AH 1316)
- Place
- Gevaş
- 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 place, same years
Of the 6 officials with entries in Kırklareli in the same years, Mehmet Lütfi Efendi had the 2nd highest salary.
- Mehmet Azmi Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 720 kuruş
- Mehmet Arif Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Ali Sırrı Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Mehmet Şevket Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Mehmet Cemal Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 250 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,449 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Lütfi Efendi had the 627th highest salary.
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey6 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mahmut Nedim Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Abdülvahid Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Mustafa Nuri Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
- Osman Hulusi Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Lütfi Efendi had the 1,725th highest salary of them.
- Abbas Hilmi Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 450 kuruş
- Abdullah Agah Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Abdülmecid Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 690 kuruş
- Abdülmecit Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 220 kuruş
- Ahmet Burhanettin Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 400 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Lütfi Efendi had the 1,196th highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Muhtar Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Ahmet Rüşdi Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Ahmet Sırrı Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 380 kuruş
- ALİ HİKMET EFENDİborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 700 kuruş
- ALİ NUSRET EFENDİborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 250 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 168 officials whose first annual entry is for 1902/03 (AH 1320), Mehmet Lütfi Efendi had the 39th highest salary.
- Ahmet Sırrı Efendifirst entry in Shkodër (İşkodra); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Ahmet Zühdü Efendifirst entry in Veles (Köprülü); highest salary 700 kuruş
- ALİ CEVAT EFENDİfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 120 kuruş
- ALİ NUSRET EFENDİfirst entry in Thessaloniki (Selanik); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Bekir Rıza Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 200 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (6)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Gevaş | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 118-97-189 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Gevaş | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 118-97-189 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Kırklareli | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 118-97-189 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Kırklareli | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 118-97-189 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Kırklareli | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 118-97-189 |
| 1907/08AH 1325 | Muhabere Memuru | Niksar | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 118-97-189 |
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 Lütfi Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1297 | 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 | kaymakam | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier 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 | Rusdiye Mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 7 | 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) | 1316 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1898 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Gevas | 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.
- 4 annual entries of 6 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 Lütfi Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Kırklareli
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Rüşdiye school (Rüşdiye Mektebi)
- 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)