Philosopher and poet (b. 24 November 1896, Kütahya -
d. 24 August 1953, İstanbul). He completed his primary and secondary education
in Kütahya and at high school in Konya. After working as a teacher in Konya and
Afyon for a while, he went to Paris (1925). He studied Philosophy at the
Sorbonne University and after worked as a teacher at Konya and Bursa High
Schools and at the Gazi Education Institute. In the years when he was young, he
published his essays in Uçak
magazine, Babalık newspaper, which he
published in Konya and in the newspapers Afyon Nur, Millî Mecmua, Uludağ
and in the magazine Yeni Fikir
(1925-29, 51 volume) which he and his friend Naci Fikret published in Konya. He
attracted attention mainly with his work that first advocated and introduced
the Western philosophy system and with his satirical poems.
He became well known with his poem “Geçti Borun Pazarı Sür eşeği Niğde’ye”
(Colloquial, “It is too late to do anything about that; so let’s think about
doing something else.”) Here is a part of the poem:
“I didn’t know
what your aims and goals were,
You lived
among the books like a mouse.
Neither did
you dance nor loved a girl, a woman
Who told you
to waste your youth like a tramp?
Now that
youth has passed by, can you now find a piece of it?”
WORKS:
Felsefi
Meslekler Vekabüleri (Philosophy
Professions Vocabulary, 1932), Namık
Kemal ve İdealizmi (Namık Kemal and His Idealism, 1941), Yazma Dersleri (Writing Courses, 1945), Kitaplarımın Hikâyesi (My Books’ Story,
1952), Geçti Borun Pazarı (Poems,
1952), Paris Mektupları (Letters of
Paris).
