Critic and essayist (b. 21 August 1898,
Beylerbeyi / İstanbul - d. 17 May 1957, Ankara). His real name was Ali Nurullah
Ata. He also used the pen names Ahfeş, Ali Gümrükçü, Aklan, Kavafoğlu, Nurullah
Ata, Sabiha Yağızlar and Süha Kavafoğlu. He was the son of Ata Bey, the
translator of Hammer. He studied for four years at Galatasaray High School and
then left school and went to Switzerland. Later on, he attended lectures at
İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature, but did not complete his studies
there (1922). He learnt French by himself. Succeeding in his exams, he became a
teacher of French and was appointed a teacher of French at Nişantaşı High
School. After working six years there, he served as an interpreter and
editor-in-chief at the Ministry of Commerce in Ankara (1925-26). Later, he
resumed his profession as a teacher and worked as a teacher of French at
various schools in Ankara (1928, 1980, 1939-45) and İstanbul (1930-39). He
worked as the General Director of Press and Publishing, as editor-in chief
(1945), as interpreter to the President of Republic until his retirement (1952)
and as the head of Turkish Language Association’s Department of Publishing
until his death.
His first article on Göl Saatleri (Lake Hours) by Ahmet
Haşim, appeared in the newspaper Dergâh
(1921). Translator of almost fifty books from Greek, Latin, French and Russian
classical and contemporary writers, Ataç gained fame through the importance he
gave to the attempts to rid the Turkish language of foreign words. During his
literary career, he highlighted the importance of avoiding words of Arabian and
Persian origin, which included the conjunction “ve” (and). Moreover, he
always preferred using inverted sentences. His poems, essays and critiques were
published in the newspapers Dergâh, Akşam, Milliyet, Vakit, Cumhuriyet and Ulus.
WORKS:
Günlerin
Getirdiği (What the
Days Have Brought, 1946), Karalama
Defteri (Notebook for Rough Drafts, 1953), Sözden Söze (From Word to Word, 1952), Ararken (While Looking for, 1954), Diyelim (Let’s Say, 1954), Söz
Arasında (By the Way, 1957), Okuruma Mektuplar (Letters to My
Readers, 1958), Günce (Journal,
1960), Prospero ile Caliban (Prospero
and Caliban, 1961, new edition with Okuruma
Mektuplar-Letters to My Readers, 1999), Söyleşiler
(Interviews, 1964).
In addition, he translated
some works of Balzac, Sophocles and Stendhal.