Tosun Aricanli

Tosun Aricanli, 76, died on June 14, 2024, in Boscawen, New Hampshire. He was born on September 22, 1947 in Izmir, Turkey, to lawyer Ahmet Munir Aricanli and judge Piraye Aricanli. He was the husband of Ming Jiang. They were married on July 26, 2003 in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. 

After attending Middle Eastern Technical University in Ankara, Turkey and Claremont Men’s College, where he graduated summa cum laude with a major in economics, Tosun completed his PhD in economics at Harvard University, with a dissertation on “The Role of the State in Social and Economic Transformation of the Ottoman Empire, 1807–1918.” His wide-ranging academic interests bridged economics, sociology, and history, attracting funding from the Ford Foundation and the Population Council. Tosun dedicated his professional life to educating others, spending the majority of his career teaching and researching at academic institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. Among his published works are the co-edited volume The Political Economy of Turkey: Debt, Adjustment and Sustainability (1990) and research articles in academic journals such as World Development and The Journal of Historical Sociology. Outside of academia, Tosun spent several years working with the World Bank, after which he moved to Bow, New Hampshire in 1997, where he resided until the end of his life. 

Tosun will be remembered as an empathetic man with a big heart, who was always ready to lend a hand to someone in need. Tosun was gregarious; he delighted in hosting dinner parties for his friends, colleagues, and students. He would prepare a large variety of delicious dishes—often including his specialty rack of lamb—and enjoyed the company and conversation of his guests for hours, along with good music, and better wine. He had a sharp sense of humor; he loved to laugh, and more importantly, make others laugh. Tosun took great pleasure in tending to his garden each and every summer. He also enjoyed spending time in the great outdoors, including hiking through the mountain ranges of his chosen home of New England. Tosun was a loving and caring father who took great pride in his ability to rear and provide for his family.  

In 2011, Tosun was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, which caused a progressive loss of his expressive ability and executive functions. Tosun lived in his home surrounded by love and affection until the end of his life. Although Tosun slowly lost the sharpness and wit that most knew him by, his gentle and playful nature continued to shine through, endearing him to those with whom he interacted in his final years.  

Tosun, who was lovingly referred to as “Baba” by his immediate family, is survived by his wife Ming Jiang, his daughter, Sare, a PhD graduate from Princeton University and assistant professor of history at Durham University in England, and his three sons—Yunus, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law; Ilyas, a graduate of Clarkson University and software engineer; and Adem, a rising junior at Princeton University majoring in mathematics. Tosun is further survived by his brother, Ulku, and his granddaughter, Giga. While his presence will be sorely missed, his legacy will live on, not only in the hearts of his beloved children and dear wife Ming, but with his wider family and his many friends, who always held a central place in his life.