Philosopher and academic İoanna Kuçuradi, known for her work on human rights, ethics and the philosophy of values, died today at the age of 89.
Kuçuradi died at Maltepe University Medical Faculty Training and Research Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment. She was president of the Philosophical Society of Turkey and honorary president of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP).
Born in İstanbul's Beyoğlu district on Oct 4, 1936, into a Greek (Rum) family, Kuçuradi witnessed major events in Turkey's recent history during her childhood and youth, including the 1942 Wealth Tax and the İstanbul Pogrom.
She graduated from Zapyon Greek High School in 1954 and studied philosophy at İstanbul University, receiving her degree in 1959. She began her academic career as an assistant to philosopher Takiyettin Mengüşoğlu.
Kuçuradi earned her doctorate in 1965 with a dissertation on the concept of the human being in the works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. She taught at Atatürk University in Erzurum between 1965 and 1968.
She joined Hacettepe University in 1969, where she founded its Philosophy Department and chaired it until her retirement in 2003. She became an associate professor in 1970 and a professor in 1978.
After retiring, Kuçuradi founded and directed the Human Rights Research and Application Center at Maltepe University. She also chaired the university's UNESCO Chair and continued teaching in its Philosophy Department.
Her academic work focused on human dignity, ethics, value theory and the conceptual foundations of human rights. She argued that philosophy was not limited to abstract theory but was closely connected to everyday life and ethical responsibility.
Kuçuradi also held senior positions in international philosophical organizations. She joined FISP's board in 1983, served as secretary-general from 1988 to 1998 and as president from 1998 to 2003 before being named honorary president.
She was president of the Paris-based International Institute of Philosophy from 2014 to 2017. In Turkey, she was among the founders of the Philosophical Society of Turkey and had served as its president since 1979.
Kuçuradi also chaired the Prime Ministry's Human Rights High Advisory Board and Turkey's National Committee for UN Human Rights Education.
Her books include Human and His Values, Ethics, Human Rights: Concepts and Problems, Nietzsche and the Human Being, Schopenhauer and the Human Being, Looking at Art Through Philosophy, Among the Events of the Age and Uludağ Conversations.
She also translated major works by Immanuel Kant into Turkish, including Critique of Practical Reason, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and Prolegomena.
Kuçuradi received numerous awards and honors during her career, including the Goethe Medal in 1996, the Order of Merit of Germany in 2001, a UNESCO Human Rights Education Prize honorable mention in 2002 and the UNESCO Aristotle Medal in 2003. She also received honorary doctorates from the University of Crete and Universidad Ricardo Palma.
