The Most Famous
HISTORIANS from Türkiye
This page contains a list of the greatest Turkish Historians. The pantheon dataset contains 561 Historians, 23 of which were born in Türkiye. This makes Türkiye the birth place of the 6th most number of Historians behind United States, and Italy.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Turkish Historians of all time. This list of famous Turkish Historians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Turkish Historians.
1. Herodotus (-484 - -425)
With an HPI of 90.13, Herodotus is the most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 140 different languages on wikipedia.
Herodotus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρόδοτος, romanized: Hēródotos; c. 484 – c. 425 BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BCE, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the Histories, a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars, and was the first writer to apply a scientific method to historical events. He has been described as "The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Cicero, and the "Father of Lies" by others. The Histories primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information. Herodotus was criticized in ancient times for his inclusion of "legends and fanciful accounts" in his work. The contemporaneous historian Thucydides accused him of making up stories for entertainment. He retorted that he reported what he could see and was told. A sizable portion of the Histories has since been confirmed by modern historians and archaeologists.
2. Hecataeus of Miletus (-550 - -476)
With an HPI of 76.63, Hecataeus of Miletus is the 2nd most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 55 different languages.
Hecataeus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἑκαταῖος ὁ Μιλήσιος; c. 550 – c. 476 BC), son of Hegesander, was an early Greek historian and geographer.
3. Cassius Dio (155 - 235)
With an HPI of 75.27, Cassius Dio is the 3rd most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 63 different languages.
Lucius Cassius Dio (c. 165 – c. 235), also known as Dio Cassius (Ancient Greek: Δίων Κάσσιος Dion Kassios), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the subsequent founding of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (27 BC) up until 229 AD, during the reign of Severus Alexander. Written in Ancient Greek over 22 years, Dio's work covers approximately 1,000 years of history. Many of his books have survived intact, alongside summaries edited by later authors such as Xiphilinus, a Byzantine monk of the 11th century, and Zonaras, a Byzantine chronicler of the 12th century.
4. Arrian (89 - 175)
With an HPI of 73.98, Arrian is the 4th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: Ἀρριανός Arrianos; Latin: Lucius Flavius Arrianus; c. 86/89 – c. after 146/160 AD) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Scholars have generally preferred Arrian to other extant primary sources, though this attitude has changed somewhat in light of modern studies into Arrian's method.
5. Ali ibn al-Athir (1160 - 1233)
With an HPI of 71.52, Ali ibn al-Athir is the 5th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī (Arabic: علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري; 1160–1233) was a Hadith expert, historian, and biographer who wrote in Arabic and was from the Ibn Athir family. At the age of twenty-one he settled with his father in Mosul to continue his studies, where he devoted himself to the study of history and Islamic tradition.
6. Socrates of Constantinople (380 - 440)
With an HPI of 69.84, Socrates of Constantinople is the 6th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.
Socrates of Constantinople (c. 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus (Ancient Greek: Σωκράτης ὁ Σχολαστικός), was a 5th-century Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret. He is the author of a Historia Ecclesiastica ("Church History", Ἐκκλησιαστική Ἱστορία) which covers the history of late ancient Christianity during the years 305 to 439.
7. Libanius (314 - 393)
With an HPI of 69.10, Libanius is the 7th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.
Libanius (Ancient Greek: Λιβάνιος, romanized: Libanios; c. 314–392 or 393) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a critical source of history of the Greek East during the 4th century AD. During the rise of Christian hegemony in the later Roman Empire, he remained unconverted and in religious matters was a pagan Hellene.
8. Ephorus (-400 - -330)
With an HPI of 67.45, Ephorus is the 8th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.
Ephorus of Cyme (; Ancient Greek: Ἔφορος ὁ Κυμαῖος, Ephoros ho Kymaios; c. 400 BC – 330 BC) was an ancient Greek historian known for his universal history.
9. Eunapius (349 - 420)
With an HPI of 65.27, Eunapius is the 9th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Eunapius (Greek: Εὐνάπιος; c. 347 - c. 420) was a Greek sophist, rhetorician, and historian from Sardis in the region of Lydia in Asia Minor. His principal surviving work is the Lives of Philosophers and Sophists (Ancient Greek: Βίοι Φιλοσόφων καὶ Σοφιστῶν; Latin: Vitae sophistarum), a collection of the biographies of 24 philosophers and sophists.
10. Agatharchides (b. -208)
With an HPI of 63.40, Agatharchides is the 10th most famous Turkish Historian. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Agatharchides or Agatharchus (Ancient Greek: Ἀγαθαρχίδης or Ἀγάθαρχος, Agatharchos) of Cnidus was a Greek historian and geographer (flourished 2nd century BC).
People
Pantheon has 23 people classified as Turkish historians born between 550 BC and 1970. Of these 23, 2 (8.70%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Turkish historians include Taner Akçam, and Soner Cagaptay. The most famous deceased Turkish historians include Herodotus, Hecataeus of Miletus, and Cassius Dio. As of April 2024, 2 new Turkish historians have been added to Pantheon including Cadmus of Miletus, and Cyril Mango.
Living Turkish Historians
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Deceased Turkish Historians
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Herodotus
484 BC - 425 BC
HPI: 90.13
Hecataeus of Miletus
550 BC - 476 BC
HPI: 76.63
Cassius Dio
155 - 235
HPI: 75.27
Arrian
89 - 175
HPI: 73.98
Ali ibn al-Athir
1160 - 1233
HPI: 71.52
Socrates of Constantinople
380 - 440
HPI: 69.84
Libanius
314 - 393
HPI: 69.10
Ephorus
400 BC - 330 BC
HPI: 67.45
Eunapius
349 - 420
HPI: 65.27
Agatharchides
208 BC - Present
HPI: 63.40
Michael Attaleiates
1021 - 1080
HPI: 62.80
Doukas
1400 - 1500
HPI: 62.64
