Osman Nuri-Asan oğlu Aqçoqraqlı

Osman Nuri-Asan oğlu Aqçoqraqlı ( – 17 April 1938), also written as Aqchoqraqli or Akchokrakli, was a Crimean Tatar writer, journalist, historian, archaeologist, ethnographer, and teacher.

Early life Osman Nuri-Asan oğlu Aqçoqraqlı was born in the city of Bakhchysarai into the family of an Arabic script calligrapher on 15 January 1879. He received his primary education at the Zincirli Madrasa, before later studying at the Daoud Pasha gymnasium in Istanbul from 1894 to 1896. In 1908, he moved to Cairo and began taking private lessons on eastern history, Arabic literature, and archaeology from Al-Azhar University. When questioned by universities, he would modestly refer to his education credentials as being incomplete secondary education. However, this did not prevent universities from hiring him.

Career Aqçoqraqlı began his career in Saint Petersburg, teaching calligraphy at the of Saint Petersburg State University. He also participated in the decoration of mosques throughout Bakhchysarai and Saint Petersburg with ornaments and Quranic verses. From 1896 to 1900, he also worked as a proof-reader and typesetter in the publishing house of , his mentor.

From 1901 to 1905, Aqçoqraqlı served in the Imperial Russian Army. From 1906, he worked at various Tatar newspapers and magazines, among them Ulfet in Saint Petersburg and Shura in Orenburg.

Like many other Crimean Tatar intellectuals, Aqçoqraqlı took inspiration from Ismail Gasprinsky, and worked in the editorial office of Gasprinsky's Terciman twice, in 1906 and from 1910 to 1916. At Terciman, Aqçoqraqlı combined his journalistic skills with knowledge from his education at the Zincirli Madrasa. He also was involved in Bakhchysarai's local life, serving as one of two directors of the city's , and as treasurer of the Bakhchysarai Library Society. From 1913 to 1916, he also studied Russian calligraphy at the A. Cossodo Institute in Odessa.

In 1923, Aqçoqraqlı was elected as a member of the Taurida Society of History, Archaeology and Ethnography. From 1930 to 1931, he served as its secretary, being the last to hold that role before the organisation's dissolution. In 1925, alongside Üsein Bodaninsky, Aqçoqraqlı discovered a 17th-century manuscript of 's dastan Tugay Bey in the village of Kapsikhor (now Morske), a then-lost work fabled to be among the best works of Crimean Tatar literature. He collected and described about 400 Crimean Tatar tamgas and studied numerous epigraphs in Crimea dating back to the Middle Ages.