Educator,
journalist-writer, interpreter. (B. 1895, Manastır- D. November 7, 1963,
Istanbul). He also used Seyyah pseudonym. So he took the Gezgin surname. He is
the son of Colonel Rıza Bey, who was regiment commander in Manastır. He is from Anahtarağasıoğulları family. After he
completed his primary and secondary education in Manastır, Berat and Thessaloniki,
he moved to his uncle’s place in Istanbul. After
1913, he worked as teacher in Gaziosmanpaşa and Nişantaşı Primary Schools.
Later, he passed an exam in which Ziya Gökalp and Ali Canip was jury members,
and he took literature teacher certificate. He worked as literature teacher in
Çapa Teacher School for Girls, Fener Greek, Şişli Terakki High Schools and
worked in Istanbul School for Boys then he got retired in 1957. Tağrık Buğra
and Alaattin Yavaşça were his students. He died because of lung cancer. He used
to play reed flute. He used to arrange musical meetings in his house every
week.
When he was working as a teacher, he wrote
daily anecdotes in Vakit ve Vatan newspapers. He was known as a Vakit Writer. In his writings here, he
supported National Struggle. He published Biographies of men of letters
and critics in Yeni
Mecmua (1939-41) newspaper. He supported Simplifying Turkish Language Movement
in Genç Kalemler
magazine. He wrote encyclopaedia
article for Türk
Ansiklopedisi.
His only published book Aşk Arzuhalcisi (1928) was not very successful. But he took attention with his memories and
biographies about man of letters he wrote in Yeni Mecmua. These writings, which were giving valuable information
about the men of letters of the era, were collected by Beşir Ayvazoğlu and were
published with the title Edebî Portreler. For these writings Behçet Necatigil
made this interpretation: “this book is about the men of ketters he knew and is
a remarkable document for our literature history, it is a living poetic
memories collection”. He
translated many writing from French, Persian, Italian and Arabic. Also he had
almost thirty novel translations among which Dostoyevsky.
WORKS:
NOVEL:
Aşk Arzuhalcisi (1928).
MEMOIR:
Edebî Portreler (yay. haz. Beşir Ayvazoğlu, 1997).
RESEARCH:
Hakkı Tarık Us 1889-1956 (with H. Rasim Us, 1957).
TRANSLATION:
İlkbahar Soneleri (from André Theriet, 1927), Karamozof Kardeşler (1940-41),
Suç ve Ceza (1945) (from Dostoyevsky), Düşünceleri Okuyan Makine (from
André Maurois, 1944), Şarl X’un Kanlı Saltanatı (from Prosper Merimée,
1944), Doludizgin (from René Fonjallaz, 1945), Toprak (from Emile
Zola, 1946).
REFERENCE:
Cumhuriyetin 50. Yılında İstanbul (1973), Seyit Kemal Karaalioğlu /
Ansiklopedik Edebiyat Sözlüğü (1978), Büyük Larousse (v. 9), Türk Ansiklopedisi
(v. 17, 1943-86), TDE Ansiklopedisi (v. 3), Atilla Özkırımlı / Türk Edebiyatı
Ansiklopedisi (v. 2, 1982-87), Mahir Ünlü – Ömer Özcan / 20. Yüzyıl Türk
Edebiyatı (1988), Beşir Ayvazoğlu / Hakkı Süha Gezgin / Edebî Portreler (editor
1997), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (The 18th edition,
1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (The 6th edition, 1999),
TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Edebiyatımızın Güleryüzü (2002).
