--- title: Yaşar Doğu slug: yasar-dogu-cc69d url: /detay/yasar-dogu-cc69d type: biography language: English entity: primary: Yaşar Doğu type: biography categories: - name: General Knowledge slug: genel-kultur url: /kategori/genel-kultur - name: Sport slug: spor url: /kategori/spor - name: Biography And Autobiography slug: biyografi-ve-otobiyografi url: /kategori/biyografi-ve-otobiyografi tags: - YaşarDoğu - TurkishSports - fatherOfTurkishWrestling - sportsEducation - OlympicChampion - WrestlingHistory - NationalWrestler - SportsHistory - MinderGuresi - KarakucakGuresi - Legends - Samsunspor author: Nursena Şahin created_at: 2026-07-06T18:26:59.590264+03:00 updated_at: 2026-07-06T18:26:59.590264+03:00 image: https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2025/11/29/UCQ3NXFHCgsIy2jv6sUoKAGXYop5fwyx.jpg --- # Yaşar Doğu > Yaşar Doğu, a wrestler from Samsun who lived between 1913 and 1961, is known as the father of Turkish wrestling ## KURE Information Cards ![7 Ocak 2025_AA-122690391.jpg](https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2025/11/29/FlqQUSlQlzrcqdZhrLcN4dKeh7GDq2J2.jpg) *Yaşar Doğu* | Field | Value | |-------|-------| | Birth | 1913, Karlı village, Samsun | | Death | 8 January 1961, Ankara | | Origin | Originally from Caucasian Turks | | Profession | Wrestler,Coach | | Specialties | Freestyle, Greco-Roman Style (Mat), Karakucak | | Active National Career | 1939–1951 | ## Article Content **Yaşar Doğu**, one of the most distinguished athletes and coaches in Turkish wrestling history, won gold medals in six of the seven major championships he competed in while wearing the national uniform between 1939 and 1951, earning titles as Olympic, World and European champion. ### **Early Life and Beginning in Wrestling** Yaşar Doğu was born in 1913 in Karlı village, part of the Kavak district of Samsun. His family, originally of Caucasian Turkish descent, had migrated to Samsun. After his father, Gazi Osman Çavuş, was killed in action during World War I when Yaşar was still an infant, he and his mother Feride Hanım were forced to relocate to Emirli village, where his grandfather lived. Following his mother’s second marriage, Yaşar Doğu was sent at the age of five to live under the care of his aunt Ayşe Tok in Kurnaz village of Amasya, where he remained until he was called for military service in 1936. While growing up and spending his youth in these villages, he began practicing karakucak wrestling and quickly gained recognition as a formidable karakucak wrestler. His transition to professional mat wrestling occurred in 1938 while serving his military duty in Ankara, when a friend persuaded him to join the Ankara Wrestling Club.[^1]  ![Image](https://cdn.t3pedia.org/media/uploads/2025/11/29/UbwluleqpobDBLMHZ8PhFQ0PMv15gpjA.jpg) *Yaşar Doğu (Anadolu Ajansı)* ### **National Team Career and International Achievements** Yaşar Doğu wore the star-and-crescent national uniform for twelve years (1939–1951). Over the course of his career, he competed in 47 matches in the national team and lost only one, setting a remarkable record. Of his 46 victories, 33 were achieved by pinfall. His sole defeat came during the 1939 European Championship in Oslo, Norway, where he lost one of four matches in the 66 kg category and finished second. Yaşar Doğu won the championship title in six of the seven major tournaments he entered while representing Türkiye, earning the titles of Olympic, World and European champion. At the 1948 London Olympics, Yaşar Doğu defeated all five of his opponents to win the gold medal in the middleweight division. Throughout his career, he had only one opportunity to compete at the World Championships. In 1951 at the World Championships in Helsinki, he won gold in the 87 kg (light heavyweight) category, becoming world champion. At the European Championships, he won gold medals in 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden (freestyle, 73 kg), in 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (Greco-Roman, 73 kg), and in 1949 in Istanbul (freestyle, middleweight). He also won the Balkan Championship in Istanbul in 1940. [YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DPjvIV0TY4) *Türk Tankı Yaşar Doğu (TRT Arşiv)* ### **Coaching Career and the Title “Father of Turkish Wrestling”** After his competitive career, Yaşar Doğu began serving Turkish wrestling as a coach and devoted his entire life to its development. Due to his selfless sacrifices and services without expectation of reward, he came to be known as the **“Father of Turkish Wrestling”**. While training young wrestlers, he did not limit himself to technical instruction but also attended to their human needs. For example, he carried sacks of firewood on his back to keep the training hall warm, mended torn wrestling mats, and helped his students find employment.[^2]  The life story and achievements of the wrestler known as the “Father of Turkish Wrestling” were documented in the book “Cihan Pehlivanı Yaşar Doğu” by author Fatih Türkoğlu.[^3]  [YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSRMDh2uTiQ) *İz Bırakanlar-Yaşar Doğu (TRT Arşiv)* ### **Death and Legacy** Despite suffering his first heart attack while with the national team in Sweden, Yaşar Doğu ignored his doctors’ advice to rest and returned home to continue training young wrestlers. He died on 8 January 1961 in Ankara at the age of 48 after suffering a second heart attack. He is buried at the Ankara Cebeci Military Cemetery. One of Yaşar Doğu’s legacies to Turkish wrestling is the training centers named in his honor. The Yaşar Doğu Wrestling Training Center, established in 2004 in his hometown of Kavak, Samsun, continues to produce new champions for Turkish sports, according to coach Sadık Başkaya. Since its founding, the facility has trained approximately 300 wrestlers, 50 of whom have won medals at international competitions.[^4]  His childhood home in Emirli village, where he grew up, is now open to the public as a museum and memorial house. Additionally, the nickname “Koca Yaşar,” associated with the Olympic and world champion wrestler, has been given by the Karadeniz Agricultural Research Institute to a locally developed annual grass variety, created through 21 years of selective breeding.[^5] ## Academic Sources and References 1. Anadolu Ajansı. "Cumhuriyet döneminde güreşe adanmış hayat: Yaşar Doğu." Accessed November 29, 2025. 2. Anadolu Ajansı. "Efsane güreşçi Yaşar Doğu'nun lakabı "Koca Yaşar" yerli çim çeşidine verildi." Accessed November 29, 2025. 3. Anadolu Ajansı. "Türk güreşinin babası: Yaşar Doğu." Accessed November 29, 2025. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/spor/turk-guresinin-babasi-yasar-dogu/3443559 4. Anadolu Ajansı. "Türk güreşinin efsanesi: Yaşar Doğu." Anadolu Ajansı. Accessed November 29, 2025. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/spor/turk-guresinin-efsanesi-yasar-dogu/2101474 5. T.C. Samsun Valiliği. "Yaşar Doğu (1917–1961)." Accessed November 29, 2025. http://www.samsun.gov.tr/yasar-dogu-1917---1961 6. TRT Arşiv. "Türk Tankı Yaşar Doğu." YouTube, Video. Date Published: January 8, 2019. Accessed December 1, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DPjvIV0TY4 7. TRT Arşiv. "İz Bırakanlar-Yaşar Doğu." YouTube, Video. Date Published: November 5, 2019. Accessed November 29, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSRMDh2uTiQ&t=2s 8. TRT Haber. "Efsane güreşçi 'Yaşar Doğu'nun yaşamı kitap oldu.'" Accessed November 29, 2025. https://www.trthaber.com/haber/spor/efsane-guresci-yasar-dogunun-yasami-kitap-oldu-689164.html ## Citations [^1]: T.C. Samsun Valiliği, "Yaşar Doğu (1917 - 1961)." T.C. Samsun Valiliği, erişim 29 Kasım 2025, http://www.samsun.gov.tr/yasar-dogu-1917---1961 [^2]: Anadolu Ajansı, "Türk güreşinin babası: Yaşar Doğu," Anadolu Ajansı, erişim 29 Kasım 2025, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/spor/turk-guresinin-babasi-yasar-dogu/3443559 [^3]: TRT Haber, "Efsane güreşçi "Yaşar Doğu"nun yaşamı kitap oldu," TRT Haber, erişim 29 Kasım 2025, https://www.trthaber.com/haber/spor/efsane-guresci-yasar-dogunun-yasami-kitap-oldu-689164.html [^4]: Anadolu Ajansı, "Türk güreşinin efsanesi: Yaşar Doğu," Anadolu Ajansı, erişim 29 Kasım 2025, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/spor/turk-guresinin-efsanesi-yasar-dogu/2101474 [^5]: Anadolu Ajansı, "Efsane güreşçi Yaşar Doğu'nun lakabı "Koca Yaşar" yerli çim çeşidine verildi," Anadolu Ajansı, erişim 29 Kasım 2025, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/spor/efsane-guresci-yasar-dogunun-lakabi-koca-yasar-yerli-cim-cesidine-verildi/2570976