Historian and author Bülent Şenocak was born on November 29, 1954, in İzmir, Turkey. He received his early education at İzmir Saint Joseph French Secondary School and İzmir Private Fatih College. He graduated from the Department of Finance at Istanbul University Faculty of Business Administration in 1978 and earned a degree in History from Anadolu University Open Education Faculty in 2025.
Beginning his professional career in the industrial sector, Şenocak held senior executive positions at his family-owned company, Klimasan Inc., until 1994. In the following years, he served as the Turkey representative for several Italian companies operating in the film and packaging industries. With the aim of pursuing his work in publishing, he founded Şenocak Publishing in 2008. Until 2013, he published 80 books and seven issues of the journal İzmir: History and Society. In 2008, İzmir: History and Society was awarded the Respect for History and Local Preservation Award by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.
Actively engaged in civil society, Şenocak founded the Aegean Young Business People Association (EGİAD) in 1990 and served as its president for two years. In 1993, he assumed the role of National President of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Turkey and remains a member of the JCI and JCI Turkey Senate. He served as President of the Alsancak Rotary Club in 2009. He is among the founders of the İzmir Institute of Technology Foundation (İYTEV), the Aegean Foundation for the Development of the Economy (EGEV), and the Human, Friendship, and Benevolence Foundation. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Social Solidarity and Happy Retirement Foundation (SEV) and the Foundation for Children in Need of Protection (KORUNCUK). He founded the İzmir Culture and History Platform and served for many years as Chairman of its Executive Board.
Şenocak began his literary career with research and analytical works. His first book, Izmir, the Star of the Levant – Levantines, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, was published in 2003. The fifth edition of the book was released by Yakın Publishing House and received the Respect for History and Local Preservation Award from the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality in 2008. The Greek translation of the work was published in Thessaloniki by Epikentro Publishing House in 2020.
Published in 2013, The Humanized God is a philosophical essay. His novel Broken on Dream Roads, published by GOA Publishing in 2013, was translated into English by Brendan Freely under the title Shattered Dreams and released by Amazon KDP in 2014. The Arabic translation was published in Egypt in 2016, followed by the Italian translation in Italy in 2022. His novel Blood Libel, first published in 2017, is his most recent work of fiction; its second edition was released by Yakın Publishing House in 2022.
His urban memory study Sadıkbey – If Mansions Could Speak was published by Yakın Publishing House in 2022 and subsequently adapted into a documentary film. The documentary has been screened at various festivals and competitions. His biographical work What Remains in This World: The Life Story of Cem Bakioğlu focuses on the life of a prominent businessman from İzmir.
Bülent Şenocak is married, has one daughter, and is the grandfather of two. He is fluent in English
and French and has an intermediate command of German.
Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty, Department of History Graduation Memory (June 2025)