A MAN OF MANY WORDS

AVERY, C. ROBERT

Born 10 Sep 1918 Ann Arbor, Michigan

Died 15 Nov 1979 Istanbul (Rumeli Hisar)

Buried 20 Nov. 1979 at Protestant Cemetery, Ferikoy, Istanbul. 

 Services were held on 19 November at the Union Church (Dutch Chapel) in Istanbul at 12:30 (National Archives, State Dept. RG59. Decimal File 367.113 (1930-1939) – Form 192: Report of Death of American Citizen.)

I first “met” Mr. Avery  by tombstone when I was temporarily living in Istanbul and  decided to check out who all was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in that city and see if any of the tombstones had interesting information on them (ALL information is interesting to a genealogist!)

Aside from his name, birth year and death year (1918-1979), there were only three words left: Love, Peace, and Züzüniyet.  So my thinking was yes, this last word was quite interesting, because my Turkish-English dictionary didn’t have it listed.

In wanting to know more about him, I found some records that showed all the degrees he accumulated in furthering his education and then learned that he had served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) - in their Publication department .   Since I had sought help on my project from Nancy Whittler who was then serving the Mission Board in Istanbul and fluent in Turkish, having been in Turkey for many years, I asked her if she had any idea what “züzüniyet” – the word on Avery’s tombstone meant.  She laughed, and said there was quite a story about it.

                                                                                                                               

According to Nancy, Mr. Avery was editor of the 6^th edition of the Redhouse Turkish-English dictionary.  It was a big job, but since he loved words – their precision, derivation and meaning - he wanted to leave his unique mark on the dictionary.  He chose to do this by making up the word “züzüniyet,” which would put it as the last entry in the Turkish –English dictionary.  To this word he assigned the definition “conclusion” or “final word.”  The word “züzüniyet” does not appear in any other edition.  It is, however, inscribed on his tombstone.  

Unless one knows the story, or just happens to have that particular edition of the dictionary, the word will be untranslatable!

According to the Memorial Book kept by the American Board of Missions, Bob Avery had a special joy in life.  He loved music, as a listener and singer.  He loved children; they were drawn to him; and he gave them the time they deserved.  His humor never flagged; he saw all whom he met as children of God.  

And yes, he loved words.

He died November 15, 1979 in Istanbul.