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Andrew Mango produced the standard biography of Kemal Atatürk, the first president of Turkey, and become the acknowledged doyen of Turkish studies in Britain in the late 20th century — in spite of never having occupied an academic position.
He was born in Istanbul and later moved to London, where he studied at SOAS and became BBC Turkish programme organiser, holding the post until his promotion to head of the BBC south European service in 1972.
His early books were straightforward introductions to Turkey, but after 1974, when Turkey’s relations with the West frayed in the wake of the Cyprus crisis, he produced a stream of seminar papers and think-tank reports which established him as a regional specialist.
In retirement he produced a series of acclaimed books, of which his biography of Atatürk is the best known. He travelled frequently to Turkey, where he became a familiar “talking head” on Turkish television.
Andrew Mango, author, was born on June 14, 1926. He died on July 6, 2014, aged 88
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