ODFFU · Heritage
Noman Çelebicihan
Crimean Tatar political leader, mufti, and poet who headed the national government formed in 1917. His poem Ant etkenmen became the Crimean Tatar national anthem.
Photographer unidentified · Public domain · Image source
Biography
Noman Çelebicihan was a Crimean Tatar religious leader, politician, and poet. Born in Büyük Sonak in northern Crimea, he studied in Crimea, Istanbul, and St. Petersburg. His education brought together religious learning and law, preparing him for a leading role in the political changes of 1917.
Elected mufti that year, he helped lead the First Qurultay, which met in Bahçesaray in December. The assembly adopted a constitution and established a national government under his leadership. Its programme connected Crimean Tatar self-government with civil equality and women's political participation.
His government was short-lived. After Bolshevik forces took control, Çelebicihan was imprisoned in Sevastopol and killed in February 1918. His body was thrown into the Black Sea. His poem Ant etkenmen became the Crimean Tatar national anthem, linking his literary work with the memory of the struggle for self-government. His political leadership does not establish authorship of the constitution edition held in this archive.
- ODFFU Archive: People Biographies
Biographical text adapted and translated from the supplied manuscript.
Consulted 2026-09-14
In the 1917 proceedings
The Institute of National Memory identifies Çelebicihan among the Qurultay's presidium and as head of the national government. This introductory record connects the historical account and the constitution; it does not identify him as the author of the supplied edition.
- Ukrainian Institute of National Memory: The First Qurultay ↗Consulted 2026-09-10
Biographical sources
- Ukrainian Institute of National Memory: The First Qurultay ↗Consulted 2026-09-10
- Noman Çelebicihan — biographical overview ↗Consulted 2026-09-11