Show description

The dates of the cases range from 1811 to 1911. 41%). These locations were chosen when it was intended that the baby be found, rescued, and adopted. 27 Despairing parents understandably looked for the best alternatives, which often were the wealthiest households, for their babies. 63%). 11%) (this low figure may result from a research bias, due to underreporting by the church to the police). Non-Muslim millets had their own communal relief mechanisms. When an infant was left at a church, religious authorities made the necessary arrangements to entrust the foundling either with a family or a wet nurse.

They were no longer outside the historical scene. On the contrary, children gained channels for being visible and loud. They assumed significant roles, which left traces in the records. More than a hundred years later, it is possible to perceive how their part was crucial in enforcing, challenging, or rewriting history. This book suggests an alternative vista of Ottoman modernization from within the viewpoint of orphans. Different aspects of Ottoman modernization, such as industrialization, urbanization, economic development, welfare policies, educational centralization, and strengthening of nationalist ideologies, are analyzed through children’s lead.

The mother had to abandon him due to poverty and disgrace. When Konstantin notified the police, the officers took him to the newly opened foundling department of the poorhouse of Istanbul, Darülaceze. Soon after, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate filed a complaint claiming that the child had been taken on an improper basis, as Hanefi Islamic legislation ordered that foundlings should be raised by their own coreligionists. After an investigation by the Ministry of Justice and Sects and the Ministry of Interior, Todori was returned to the local church, where he was immediately baptized.