Kadir Has

Kadir Has was born in Kayseri in 1921. His family moved from Kayseri to Adana in the early years of the Republic. His father Nuri Bey, who was a trader, turned to industrialism in Adana and was among the founders of the National Textile Factory and later Akbank.[2][3]

Kadir Has graduated from Gazi Primary School in 1933.[4] He continued his high school education in Istanbul, which he started in Adana.[5] In 1942, he graduated from Bosphorus High School. In the same year, he married Rezan Germirli, a student at Kandilli Girls High School. Rezan's mother, Şehime Hanım, was from the Yağcızâde family living in Istanbul's Kanlıca district, while her father was Germirli Mehmet Bey from one of Kayseri's prominent families.[6] Kadir Has settled in Adana with his wife and worked with his father. The Has family, who were among the businessmen from Kayseri and Adana who founded Akbank to finance industrial activities, established a vegetable oil factory and a textile factory in Adana with the Sabancı family, and Akiş Thread Factory in Antakya in 1953 to process Amik cotton.

In the early 1950s, Kadir Has opened a large store in Adana where various products were sold, from radios to tractor spare parts, after separating from his father's business. In 1960, he moved to Istanbul and focused on the automotive industry.[7] His first business in Istanbul was located in the Perşembe Pazarı in Karaköy. He became the representative of German Henschell trucks and made efforts to bring the American Coca-Cola to Turkey.[8] Thanks to Has's initiative, the bottling plant established in the İncirli district of Bakırköy in 1964 became Coca-Cola's first factory in Turkey and 1916th factory in the world. Kadir Has sold all of his Coca-Cola shares to his brother Kemal Has two years later. In 1967, he established a bus and truck factory in Istanbul's Davutpaşa in partnership with the German Mercedes-Benz firm, which was looking for partners in Turkey. He served as the chairman and member of the board of directors of Otomarsan for a long time. He also became a partner of the Peugeot minibus factory in Bursa under the name Karsan, together with the Koç family. He undertook the distribution of Michelin tires in Turkey for the French.

He was tried in a state security court and acquitted because he paid the ransom demanded by the Turkey People's Liberation Party-Front (THKP-C) militants who entered his nephew Mete Has's house on April 4, 1971, and kidnapped family members, including Mete Has's daughter Zekiye, Rezan Has's sister Nükhet Yolaç's son Can, and Mahmut Has's grandson Nuri Has, whom he adopted because he did not have his own children.[4]

In the 1980s, he started to liquidate his commercial activities and turned to charitable work.[9] Together with Rezan Hasoğlu, he founded the Kadir Has Foundation for Turkish Education (HASVAK) in 1991 and Kadir Has University in 1997. According to their will, all their fortune was donated to this foundation.[10]

He was awarded the State Distinguished Service Medal in 1997 for his contributions to promoting Turkey and education. In 1999, Kadir Has was awarded a special prize in the "ISO 500 Largest Industrial Enterprises" list by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry. Kadir Has died on November 19, 2007.[11][12] However, thanks to his philanthropy and the foundations he established, his name continues to live on.[13] Kadir Has University, Kadir Has Foundation for Turkish Education (HASVAK), and various social responsibility projects of Kadir Has Holding all bear Kadir Has' name in many different fields.

• Kadir Has University
• Rezan Has Museum
• Kadir Has Stadium