Ümit Meriç: “Culture is not enough, You need to be Wise as well.”

Within the scope of NUN Evening Meetings, we hosted Umit Meriç at our girls’ dormitory.

Author Ümit Meriç met with our students at girls’ dormitory as part of the NUN Evening Meetings. Meriç, who talked about her experiences and life journey, also gave details of her relationship with her father, Cemil Meriç. Underlining that the greatest virtue for man is to “know oneself”, Meriç said that if this truth is understood, one might be successful. Meriç pointed out that at one point in our history our minds were turned into colonies. She advised our students by saying “You should of course learn a foreign language, but if you do not excel at all the subtleties of your native language, you will have difficulty expressing yourself”.

Ümit Meriç who sincerely answered our students’ questions about her father, Cemil Meriç, gave details on how Cemil Meriç started his writing career. Our students also learned that Cemil Meriç's favourite music lover was Şevki Bey. Touching on the importance of having a knowledge of history, Meriç emphasizing that Istanbul was the centre of caliphate and recommended to our students that culture is not enough to be an equipped individual and they should have the wisdom as well.

Our event, where our students made connections between the past and witnessed an author's life story, ended with a gift presentation to Umit Meriç. Our students, who listened to their favorite author, Cemil Meriç from his closest relative, were excited during the whole program. Our students who gave a depth to the discussion with their questions won the appreciation of Ümit Meriç.