Who is Mevlana?   Mevlana's Works   Mevlevi Order   What is Çelebi?
Çelebi is the title given to the Mevlevi leaders. Among Anatolian people Çelebi also means gentleman, well-mannered and courteous.

After Mevlana's death his pupil Husameddin Çelebi was offered the post. Later it became a tradition to select a post Çelebi among the male members of Mevlana's family. The current Çelebi, Faruk Hemdem is the son of Dr. Çelebi and the 20^th great-grandson of Mevlana (22^nd generation descendant) and he is the 33^rd Çelebi to occupy the post.

The list on the right shows the Çelebis in 20^th century only. For a the full list of Çelebis, as well as Mevlana's other direct descendants please see the Mevlana Family Tree.