Born in Istanbul, Mehmed Ziya (1870­1951) graduated from the Imperial  Medical School in in 1893. When the Ottoman government decided to send four graduates  to Paris, Berlin, London and Vienna to study chemistry, Mehmed  Ziya was the one who went to London. He enrolled in the University College London where he became a student  of Sir William Ramsay. He graduated in  1898. Back to Istanbul, he started to work as a chemist in the laboratories of the Ministry of the Customs. Following the 1909  reformation in the Medical  Faculty, he is  nominated as  professor of Organic Chemistry in  the School of Pharmacy of the Darülfünun. He taught in this school for about 25 years. His  lecture­notes were published in 1913 and 1924. During his professorship at the School  of Pharmacy, he was  asked in 1926  to join  the  commission for the compilation of the Turkish Pharmacopoeia (1930). Mehmed Ziya had to leave the School of Pharmacy at the 1933 University Reformation.The letters  M. Ziya wrote to his  family from London are particularly  interesting as  they reflect  the impressions  of a young medical graduate in  England at  the turn of the 20th century. These letters  were addressed to his cousin who was keen to learn about England, so that M.Ziya often wrote about  the social and daily life in London. The letters written following the summer vacations  mostly depicts the English countryside that  he greatly enjoyed. He does not, however, details his studies under Sir W.Ramsay.

Born in Istanbul, Mehmed Ziya (1870­1951) graduated from the Imperial  Medical School in in 1893. When the Ottoman government decided to send four graduates  to Paris, Berlin, London and Vienna to study chemistry, Mehmed  Ziya was the one who went to London. He enrolled in the University College London where he became a student  of Sir William Ramsay. He graduated in  1898. Back to Istanbul, he started to work as a chemist in the laboratories of the Ministry of the Customs. Following the 1909  reformation in the Medical  Faculty, he is  nominated as  professor of Organic Chemistry in  the School of Pharmacy of the Darülfünun. He taught in this school for about 25 years. His  lecture­notes were published in 1913 and 1924. During his professorship at the School  of Pharmacy, he was  asked in 1926  to join  the  commission for the compilation of the Turkish Pharmacopoeia (1930). Mehmed Ziya had to leave the School of Pharmacy at the 1933 University Reformation.The letters  M. Ziya wrote to his  family from London are particularly  interesting as  they reflect  the impressions  of a young medical graduate in  England at  the turn of the 20th century. These letters  were addressed to his cousin who was keen to learn about England, so that M.Ziya often wrote about  the social and daily life in London. The letters written following the summer vacations  mostly depicts the English countryside that  he greatly enjoyed. He does not, however, details his studies under Sir W.Ramsay.