Origins (1481–1830)

First logo of GSL

Entrance gates of Galatasaray High School on İstiklal Caddesi in Istanbul

Courtyard of Galatasaray High School

Bayezid II (1447–1512) founded the Galata Sarayı Enderun-u Hümayunu (Galata Palace Imperial School) in 1481. The sultan often roamed the city, disguised as an ordinary citizen and legend has it that on one of these rambles he found a garden in Galata filled with beautiful red and yellow roses. In this garden, he met Gül Baba (Father Rose) of the Bektashi Order. The Sultan asked the wise man about how to improve the Empire and the city as they filled with immigrants. Gül Baba explained that he was happy with the city, his rose garden and the reign of the Sultan, but he would be even happier if there was a school which would educate students from this diverse range of backgrounds, as this would train the wise men needed to serve such a large Empire. He told the Sultan he would be proud to serve as a teacher in this school in order to create a generation of valuable subjects for the Empire. Bayezid II took Gül Baba at his word and returned to the garden weeks later with the edict which established the Ottoman Imperial School in the grounds next to the rose garden, with Gül Baba as its headmaster. Gül Baba became the first headmaster of Galatasaray and administered the school for many years. He died during the Ottoman raid on Hungary and his tomb is located in Budapest.

Second logo of GSL

When the Ottoman army went to war, dervishes and minstrels accompanied it to provide prayers and entertainment but also armed themselves and joined in the fighting when necessary. Gül Baba was one of these dervishes.

Interim period (1830–1868)

Galata Palace Imperial School remained open until the 1830s, when the Tanzimat movement for reform and reorganisation drastically altered the Ottoman Empire's old establishment. Sultan Mahmud II (1808–1839) replaced the Imperial School with the Ottoman Medical School, staffed largely by French professors with most courses taught in French. The Medical School was based in the Galatasaray (Galata Palace) buildings for some thirty years.

Modern period (1868–1923)

Sultan Abdülaziz (1861–1876) was the first Ottoman sultan to travel to Europe and, while in France, was impressed by the French educational system. On his return to Istanbul, he announced the Edict on Public Education which established a free compulsory education system for children under twelve. In September 1868, the Lycée Impérial Ottoman de Galata-Sérai" (Turkish: Galatasaray Mekteb-i Sultanisi) was established based on the lycée model. French was the main language of instruction, and many teachers were European. The students included members of all the religious and ethnic communities of the Ottoman Empire.

From 1868 to 1878, most of the students non Muslims. Many of them were Bulgarian.^[3]

Since this period, the district where the school stands has been known as Galatasaray. In 1905, the Galatasaray Sports Club was founded by Ali Sami Yen and his friends in one of the school's classrooms (Literature 5B).

In 1907 a fire broke out in the school and burnt its wooden buildings to the ground. The library, museum and archive were all lost; only some stones of the external walls survived. The school was briefly relocated to Beylerbeyi but in 1909 the students were able to return to a new stone building on the site. ^[4]

Establishment of the Republic of Turkey to Integrated Education System (1923–1992)

With the abolition of the Ottoman Empire and the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the school's name was changed to Galatasaray Lisesi (Galatasaray High School or Lycée de Galatasaray). Instruction was conducted in Turkish and French, and the school was composed of an Elementary School (five years) and a Lycée (seven years) where French Language and Literature, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, English and German were taught selectively in the last four years.

The school became co-educational in 1965, and female students now constitute at least 40% of the school's pupils.

One of the main buildings of the Feriye Palace on the Bosphorus, in the Ortaköy district, was given to the school when it needed to expand.

Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, visited Galatasaray three times: on December 2, 1930; January 28, 1932; and July 1, 1933.

Integrated Education System (1992–present)

In the 1990s, Galatasaray High School entered another period of transformation. The signing of the Turkish-French Bilateral Agreement of 1992 led to the foundation of Galatasaray University which essentially grew out of the Lycée. With the addition of a new primary education school, the three units emerged as autonomous components of an integrated education system under the aegis of the University.

Admission to the High School (or Lycée) is by selective examinations and about one hundred children a year are admitted. Many graduates of the High School continue their education at Galatasaray University, where 25 percent of the enrolment quota is reserved for them.

Until 1997, the High School provided eight years of education. After children had completed the five-year compulsory primary school course, they undertook two years of preparatory, three years of junior high, and three years of senior high school education. In the 2003–2004 academic year Galatasaray High School became a five-year senior high school, with the introduction of the eight-year compulsory primary education system in Turkey, including one year of preparation.

Galatasaray has a diverse student body, with students coming from every part of the country. The current curriculum consists of a blend of Turkish and French curricula, plus a number of additional language courses and elective subjects. Courses on Turkish literature, geography, history, ethics, and art are taught in Turkish, while French Literature, philosophy, sociology, mathematics, and science courses use French as the language of instruction. In addition, English is taught in the primary school from the sixth grade, while Italian and Latin are taught in the high school. There is also some exposure to Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and Arabic through literature and religion classes, as well as Greek through French classes.

The students set up an English Club in 1997, which regularly participates in the Harvard Model United Nations Conferences and the European Youth Parliament's International Sessions and other events throughout the year.

The Lycée de Galatasaray diploma is equivalent to the French Baccalaureate, and graduates of Galatasaray are admitted to universities in France without further examinations.

Grand viziers and prime ministers

• Suat Hayri Ürgüplü (1903-81), Minister of Customs and Monopoly, Prime Minister
• Prof. Dr. Nihat Erim (1912-1980), Minister of Construction, Prime Minister

Foreign kings, presidents and prime ministers

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi

• King Zog of Albania (1928–1939)
• Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (1884–1963), historian, Labor Zionist leader, and 2nd President of Israel
• Mohammed Ali Bey al-Abed (1867-1939), President of Syria (1932) and Ambassador of Syria to the United States in Washington D.C. (1890 graduate)
• Suphi Bereket (1889-1939), Prime Minister of Syria

Ministers

• Cihad Baban (1911-84), Minister of Culture and Tourism
• Yusuf Hikmet Bayur (1891-1980), Minister of Education of the Ottoman Empire. Galatsaray teacher in 1912-1920^[5]
• Kasım Gülek (1905-1996), Minister of Public Works
• Feridun Cemal Erkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• İlhan Evliyaoğlu, Minister of Culture and Tourism
• Orhan Eyüpoğlu (1918-1980), Minister of State
• Turhan Feyzioğlu (1922-1988), Deputy Prime Minister
• Turan Güneş (1922-82), Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Şükrü Kaya (1883-1959), Minister of Agriculture, Interior and Foreign Affairs
• Coşkun Kırca (1927-2005), Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Ahmet Reşit Rey (1870-1955), Minister of the Ottoman Empire between 1912 and 1920
• Fikri Sağlar (1953- -), Minister of Culture
• Mümtaz Soysal 1929-2019), Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Ali Tanrıyar (1914-2017), Minister of Interior
• Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver (1885-1966), Minister of Education
• Cemil Topuzlu (1866-1958), Minister of Construction of the Ottoman Empire
• İlter Türkmen (1927-2022), Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (1910-61), Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ministers of foreign countries

• Konstantin Velichkov (1855-1907), Minister of Education of Bulgaria and writer (1874 graduate)

Governors

• Serasker Mehmet Sait Paşa
• Mar'i Pasha Al Mallah, last Ottoman Interim Governor of the Province of Aleppo, Syria (1876 graduate)

Notable diplomats

Below are the names of Galatasaray alumni, who represented the Republic of Turkey as ambassadors to the United States, Canada, the United Nations and other countries.

United States:

• Feridun Cemal Erkin (GS. 1920) 1948–1955
• Şükrü Elekdağ (GS. 1943) 1979–1989
• Melih Esenbel 1960, 1967-1974, 1975-1979
• Suat Hayri Ürgüplü (GS. 1924) 1957–1960

Canada:

• Coşkun Kırca (GS. 1945) 1985–1986

United Nations:

• Coşkun Kırca (GS. 1945) 1980–1985
• İlter Türkmen (GS. 1945) 1975–1980 and 1985–1988

Austria:

• Daniş Tunalıgil (GS. 1933) –1975

France

Nikola Milev

• Necdet Kent: Given the title Righteous among the Nations for saving many Jews in the invaded city of Marseille in World War II.

Famous writers and poets

• Tevfik Fikret
• Ahmet Haşim
• Nazım Hikmet
• Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı

Other notable alumni

• Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu, journalist
• Daron Acemoglu, economist
• Ali Sami Yen, founder of the Galatasaray S.K.
• Engin Ardıç, journalist
• Bülent Arel, composer
• Ünal Aysal, 34th president of Galatasaray S.K.
• Okan Bayülgen, actor and TV show host
• Süreyya Bedir Khan, politician and writer
• Celadet Bedir Khan, politician and writer
• Mehmet Ali Birand, journalist and TV news anchor
• Sadun Boro, first Turkish global circumnavigator^[6]
• Jirayr Ohanyan Çakır, President of Turkish Chess Federation
• Çetin Emeç, journalist
• Candan Erçetin, pop musician
• Feza Gürsey, physicist
• Abdi İpekçi, journalist
• Todor Kableshkov, Bulgarian national activist
• Bahadir Kaleagasi, businessman
• Fikret Kızılok, musician
• Faik Konica, Albanian writer, journalist and diplomat
• Barış Manço, musician
• Stoyan Mihaylovski, Bulgarian writer and politician (1872 graduate)
• Nikola Milev, Bulgarian historian
• İlhan Mimaroğlu, composer
• Simeon Radev, eminent Bulgarian diplomat and historian
• Timur Selçuk, musician
• Süreyya Serdengeçti, economist, former Governor of the Central Bank of Turkey
• Ferhan Şensoy, writer, comedian, actor, director, theatre owner
• Turgay Şeren, soccer player, goalkeeper and team captain of Galatasaray S.K. and Turkey
• Haldun Taner, journalist, writer
• Metin Toker, journalist, writer
• İlhan Usmanbaş, composer
• Safveti Ziya, Ottoman writer

Notable former staff

• Konstantinos Photiadis - Former headmaster, Prince of Samos, and translator of the Mecelle into Greek.^[7]