Poet and writer (b. 15 January
1902, Selanik / Ottoman Empire (Thessalonica / Greece) - d. 3 June 1963, Moscow
/ Russia). His full name was Nâzım Hikmet Ran. He used the pen name Orhan Selim
in some of his articles in newspapers. He was the grandson of Nâzım Paşa. His
great-grandfather on his mother’s side was the Ottoman Commander Mustafa
Celalettin Paşa whose real name was Count Konstantin Borjensk and who died as a
martyr at the War of Montenegro, was from Poland and descended from Gagauz
Turks. Nâzım was the son of Oktay Rifat’s aunt. He attended Göztepe Taş School,
Galatasaray High School and Nişantaşı Numune School. He enrolled in Halki Naval
Academy and graduated, however he was obliged to leave the army due to ill
health. He went to Anatolia in order to take part in the Turkish Independence
War and worked as a teacher at Bolu High School for a short time (1921). He
went to Moscow via Batum with his friend Vâlâ Nurettin and studied economics
and sociology at the University of the Workers of the East (1922-24). On his
return, he was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment together with other
writers of the newspaper Aydınlık,
so he fled to Russia again (1925). He returned to Turkey to benefit from the
amnesty of 1928 but he was arrested on his way to Hopa and was tried in Rize.
His conviction was reversed at this trial and at another in Ankara, so he went
to İstanbul and worked on the review Resimli
Ay and at film studios (1929).
He was sentenced to four years in prison in 1932; however, he
was acquitted with the amnesty on the 10th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.
He continued his profession in journalism and wrote anecdotes in newspapers Akşam, Son Posta and Tan.
He also engaged himself in writing plays, novels and poetry (1933-38). In 1938,
due to research he was doing at the War School, he was sentenced to 28 years
and 14 months in prison for encouraging rebellion in the army and founding
organizations. He stayed in prisons in İstanbul, Çankırı and Bursa for
approximately 12 years. He benefited from an amnesty law in 1950, which was a
result of a campaign led by Ahmet Emin Yalman and writers who had similar
views. After he was released, he worked as a scenarist for some time. He was
called to do his military service, as he had been given a full health
certificate, so he fled to Moscow for the last time via Romania on a Romanian
ship. The same year, he was expatriated. He lived in Poland and Warsaw.
His first poems, in which he depicted his love of nature and
admiration for Mevlânâ, were published in the reviews Yeni Mecmua (1918), Birinci Kitap and İkinci Kitap (1919-20). He adopted the style of
Mayakovskiy, by whom he was influenced during his years of education in Russia
and these poems, written in free meter and on ideological issues, were
published in the reviews Aydınlık,
Resimli Ay, Hareket, Her Ay (1924-37)
and in Yeni Edebiyat, Ses,
Yürüyüş, Gün, Yığın, Baştan and Barış (1940-50), where they were signed
either İbrahim Sabri or Mazhar Lütfi. He influenced many of his successors as
the pioneer of social poetry. The year 2002 was declared the “Year of Nâzım”,
as it was the 100th anniversary of his birth.
WORKS:
POETRY: 835 Satır (835 Verses, 1929), Jokond ile Siyau (Mona Lisa and Si-Ya-U, 1929), Varan 3 (That Makes 3, 1920), 1+1=bir (1+1=one, 1930), Sesini Kaybeden Şehir (The City That Lost Its Voice,
1931), Gece Gelen Telgraf (The Telegram That Came at Night,
1932), Benerci Kendini Niçin
Öldürdü? (Why Did Benerci Kill
Himself? 1932), Taranta
Babu'ya Mektuplar (Letters to
Taranta Babu, 1935), Portreler (Portraits, 1935), Simavna Kadısı Oğlu Şeyh Bedrettin
Destanı (The Legend of Şeyh
Bedrettin, Son of the Judge of Simavna 1936), Kurtuluş
Savaşı Destanı (The Legend of
the War of Independence, 1965; with the title Kuva-yı Milliye, 1968), Saat 21-22 Şiirleri (Poems of 9-10 o'clock, 1966), Dört Hapishaneden (From Four Prisons, 1966), Rubailer (Rubai*s, 1966), Yeni Şiirleri (New Poems, 1966), Memleketimden İnsan Manzaraları (Human Panoramas from My Country,
5 volumes, 1966-67), Son
Şiirleri (Last Poems, 1970).
PLAY: Kafatası (The Skull, 1932), Bir Ölü Evi Yahut Merhumenin Hanesi (The House of A Dead Man, 1932), Unutulan Adam (The Forgotten Man, 1935), Ferhad ile Şirin (Ferhat and Şirin, 1965), Sabahat (Beauty, 1965), İnek (The Cow, 1965), Ocak Başında / Yolcu (By the Fire / The Traveler, two
plays, 1966), Yusuf ile
Menofis (Joseph and Menophis,
1967), İvan İvanoviç
Var mıydı Yok muydu (Was
There Ivan Ivanovich or not 1985).
NOVEL: Kan
Konuşmaz (Blood Doesn't Tell,
1965), Yaşamak Güzel Şey Be
Kardeşim (It's Great to be
Alive, Brother, 1967).
ANECDOTE: İt Ürür, Kervan Yürür (The Dog Barks but the Caravan Walks
on, 1965).
FAIRY TALE: Sevdalı
Bulut (The Melancholy Cloud,
1963).
LETTER: Kemal Tahir'e Mahpushaneden
Mektuplar (Letters to Kemal
Tahir from Prison, 1968), Oğlum
Canım Evladım Memedim, (My
Son, My Life, My Child, Mehmet, 1968), VâNûlara
Mektuplar (Letters to the
Vala Nurettin Family, 1970), Nâzım
ile Piraye (Nâzım and Piraia,
letters to his wife, 1976).
All his works were published by Yapı Kredi Publications in
2002, in the series of Tüm
Eserleri (All Works, edited
by Asım Bezirci, eight volumes, 1975-80).
