ESTABLISHMENT EFFORTS OF THE GREEK GIRLS' SCHOOL IN ÜNYE DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

Abstract

This study examines the demographic profile of Ünye (a district/kaza within the Canik Sanjak) in the second half of the nineteenth century and reconstructs the establishment/reconstruction process of the Greek (Rum) Girls’ School (Ünye Rum İnas Okulu) on the basis of archival documentation. Population data for Ünye—covering both the town center and surrounding villages—indicate a significant presence of Greek (Rum) and Armenian communities alongside the Muslim population. Against this demographic background, the girls’ school located next to the Ayanikola Church fell into disrepair, prompting an application to build a new school structure. The case reveals a multi-layered authorization and supervision procedure involving the Ministry of Education, the judicial/confessional authorities, the Imperial Council bureaucracy, and provincial/sanjak administrations.  Following formal approval on 30 March 1892 and the subsequent notification of relevant offices on 4 April 1892, the project proceeded to implementation. The planned building was designed as a two-storey, five-classroom school: classrooms and teachers’/study rooms were arranged on the first floor, while dining and service-related spaces were placed on the second. In financial terms, partial state support was declared through the provincial administration, and an attempt to raise additional funds via a lottery was subjected to licensing requirements, culminating in permission for a one-time drawing due to preparations already made. Overall, the findings show that the establishment of the Ünye Greek Girls’ School was not merely a local communal initiative but a negotiated institutional process shaped by state practices of licensing, property status, and fiscal oversight.