M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ

Researcher and writer (b. 1941, Bursa). He attended primary school in Yenişehir and Bursa and the Haydarpaşa High School, and graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Turkish Language and Literature (1965). During his years at the university, he worked and wrote in the review Yeni İstiklâl. He participated in the activities of the Society of Nationalists, working on an Islamist line, in İstanbul and Bursa, and joined the Risâle-i Nur (Booklets of Light) movement. After military service as a reserve officer, he worked as a teacher and administrator at the Private Fatih High School for Boys (1967-71). He wrote for the weekly newspaper Sebil, and edited it in the last period (1976-80). He founded the MED Publishing House and published eight books (1978-82).

He founded the Center for Mehmet Âkif Studies within the Foundation of the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University (1985), where he published Mehmet Âkif's books with a simplified language, organized conferences, and gave lectures on the novel "Safahat" (Stages, 1986-89). He edited the Safahat (Stages) of M. Akif Ersoy for the eighth edition, with supplements of explanations. He worked as a columnist in the newspaper Zaman (1987-89). His books have been published by various publication houses after 1967. In 2003, he received the Writers Union of Turkey Research Award with his work Mehmet Akif'in Mısır Hayatı (M. Akif's Life in Egypt). He was recognized with his researches and simplifications of Ottoman works into modern Turkish.

WORKS:

RESEARCH: Şeyhülislâm Ebussuud Efendi Fetvaları Işığında XVI. Asır Türk Hayatı (Turkish Life in the 16th Century in the Light of Fetwas of the Grand Mufti Ebussuud Efendi, 1972), Türkiye'de İslâm ve Irkçılık Meselesi (Question of Islam and Racism in Turkey, 1976), Türkiye'de Masonluk Meselesi (The Question of Freemasonry in Turkey, 1977), Mehmed Âkif Hakkında Araştırmalar (Studies on Mehmet Âkif, 1987), Mehmet Akif - Mısır Hayatı ve Kur'an Meali (Mehmet Âkif, His Days in Egypt and the Translation of the Holy Koran, 2003), Tarafsız Değilim (I'm Not Impartial), Düşman Acımaz (Enemy Has No Mercy), Başörtülü Melekler (The Angels with Turban), Şeyhulislâm Ebussu'ud Efendi'nin Fetvalarına Göre Kanunî Devrinde Osmanlı Hayatı (Ottoman Life at the Time of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificient in the Light of Fetwas of the Grand Mufti Ebussuud Efendi), Yakın Tarihimizde Dönmeler ve Dönmelik Meselesi (The Donme’s -Jewish Converters to Islam- in Our Near History and the Question of Donme’s), Yakın Tarihimizde Gizli Çehreler (Secret Faces in our Near History), 31 Mart Vak'ası Derviş Vahdetî ve İttihâd-ı Muhammedî Cemiyeti (The Event of March 31, Dervish Vahdetî and the Society of Muhammedan Unity).

SIMPLIFICATION: Ömer'in Çocukluğu (Childhood of Ömer, from Muallim Naci, 1969), Mansur Bey, Turfanda mı -  Turfa mı (Mansur Bey, Is He Out-of-Season or Is it Uncommon?, from Mizancı Mehmed Murad, 1967), Buhranlarımız ve Son Eserleri (Our Crises and the Latest Works, from Said Halim Paşa, 1973), Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa'nın Hatıraları (Memories of Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa, two volumes, from Seyyid Muradî, 1973), Zağra Müftüsü'nün Hatıraları (Memories of the Mufti of Zagora, from Hüseyin Raci Efendi, 1973), Başımıza Gelenler (Those Happening to Us, three volumes, from Mehmed Akif Bey, 1976), Derviş Vahdettin (Dervish Vahdettin, the newspaper Volkan 1908-1909, full text, 1992), Başörtülü Melekler (The Angels with Turbans, 1995), Yakın Tarih Yazıları (Essays on Near History, 1997), Müslüman Aile (Muslim Family, from Mehmet Akif, 2002), Mehmed Âkif (Mehmed Akif, from Süleyman Nazif, including the orginal text), Safahat (Stages, from Mehmed Âkif, a critical edition including the orginal text), Bütün Yazıları (All Essays, all essays of Mehmed Âkif), Bütün Tercümeleri (All Translations, all translations by Mehmed Âkif), Türk ve Arab (The Turk and the Arab, from Çerkeşşeyhizâde Halil Hâlid, including the original and the Arabic texts), Gazavât-ı Hayreddin Paşa (Wars of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa, from Seyyid Murâdî Reis).   

REFERENCE: İhsan Işık / Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).