Theatre
actor, director (B.1882, Istanbul – D. 1947, Istanbul). He is originally from Tarsus and comes from a wide family which is known as
Mısrîzade and which migrated from Egypt. He is the son of Yusuf
Neyyir Bey, Compound Director of Foreigner’s Law. Neyyir Bey was known in
the same time as a young writer with his novel “Gülzar-ı Hayal” and some translations he made from Lamartine.
Burhanettin Tepsi graduated from Galatasaray
High School in 1902 after
his father passed away at the age of 28. He resisted his family’s insists on a
higher education saying that he wanted to be in arts like his father. He tried
to strengthen his passion for acting by making exercises with İsmail Hakkı and
Ali Nuri, sons of Grand Vizier Tevfik Pasha during his school years. He did not
listen to the objections and remained in acting which was his real passion.
However he
could not resist upon the insisting of his family and went to see his brother
who was assigned to Consulate of Marseilles. He continued lessons in Paris Conservatory
in the class of the famous actor Silvain. When he returned with a decent level of French
to his homeland, he started to work as a translator in Sublime Porte. Later he
promoted up to Translator of Prime Minister. However he resigned
from this position and after going to Tarsus and
selling the assets of his family, he escaped to Egypt. From there he passed to France and
continued his education of theatre for a long period. Having increased his
stage experience with Silvain and his wife Louise Silvain, both actors of Comédie
Française, he played important roles in tours within France in plays of Rolland and
Britannicus.
Burhanettin Tepsi
returned to Istanbul after the declaration of
the constitutional period (1908) but had to be contented with small roles in Istanbul stages which
were dominated by Armenian actors and actresses. Later he established a “Heyeti Edebiye”
(T.N Literary Group) and staged some pieces of Abdülhak Hâmit (Tarhan)’s works.
He started acting and established companies, staging national and international
works. In 1911 he staged classical plays such as Sophokles and Euripides
with Sylvains and became one of the most mentioned artists by the press.
Starting from his return to Turkey,
he took part in groups several times (the most important one is Sahne-i
Osmaniye group which included Osman Hamdi, the director of Müze-i Hümayun, and
Recaizade Ekrem). After these failed he established his own group and
strengthened his place in Constitutional theatre. Within that period he first
took part in the theatrical group called Sahne-i
Milliye-i Osmaniye. Later he
passed to Sahne-i Osmaniye and
established the New Theatre Company with Reşat Bey.
Burhanettin Bey also
took step into cinematography but the movie production he started remained
incomplete because of the 1st World War. He played a role in the
movie “Alemdar Mustafa Paşa” (Sultan Selim-i Salis) directed by Sedat Simavi
who was a young journalist at his twenties at that time, shot on behalf of
National Defense Association and written by Sedat Simavi, Celal Esat (Arseven) and
Selah Cimcoz. This production was the first historical documentary movie in the
same time. However Burhanettin Bey who could not continue his rapid success in
theatre stage had a rapid failure in cinema. He started to be criticized
intensively because of his lack of concentration in plays and cues he forgot.
Burhanettin Tepsi
organized tours to Egypt, Syria and France
with a small group in order to move away from Turkey for a while but could not
find what he expected. He made his first marriage with Saniye Hanım who was
quite younger than him. In 1924 he went again to France and played there with his
wife translations of Turkish theatrical works for eighteen years. He left Turkey during
the 1st World War and returned during the 2nd World War (1942).
He started to perform with the Burhanettin-Saniye Tepsi Theatre
he established. However it was a real failure which made him end his artistic
career with a jubilee organized by Muhsin Ertuğrul and his friends. In 1947 at
an early age he passed away due to heart failure.
Burhanettin
Bey had major contribution to the education of theatre actors such as Afife
Jale, Behzad Haki Budak, İsmail Galip Arcan and Muhsin Ertuğrul. He was one of
the first teachers of Darülbedayi-i Osmanî established by Istanbul Municipality
and opened in 1914. He received the Lorea Medal from French Academy.
REFERENCE: İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / Türk Meşhurları (1946), Hüseyin
Adıbelli / Türkiye’de İlk Diplomalı Aktör: Tarsuslu Burhanettin Tepsi (Aratos
dergisi, Kasım-Aralık 2004), Uğur Pişmanlık / Tarsuslu Yazarlar ve Sanatçılar
Ansiklopedisi (Ocak 2008), İhsan Işık / Ünlü
Sanatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 5, 2013) - Encyclopedia of
Turkey’s Famous People (2013).