Journalist, storywriter and novelist
(b. 1844, İstanbul - d. 28 December 1912). He used the pen names Coşkun and
Mehmet Cevdet as well. In his life he always encountered financial difficulties
starting from his childhood when he lost his father. He completed his primary
and secondary education in Vidin and Niş, where his elder brother worked as a
civil servant. He improved his French in Ruse, started writing in Tuna newspaper and was promoted as a
chief writer in a short time (1869). With his articles he drew the attention of
the Governor of the Danube, Mithat Paşa who became his benefactor. When Mithat
Paşa was appointed as the Governor of Baghdad, he took Ahmed Midhat with him.
When Ahmet Midhat was in Baghdad, he
worked as the director of Zevra
newspaper and wrote Hâce-i Evvel and Kıssadan Hisse, which were his first
works. He returned to İstanbul in 1871 upon the death of his elder brother who
was working as the Governor of Basra. He had to work hard to support his large
family. He converted a room in his house in Tahtakale to a printing office. He
published his articles in Ceride-i
Havadis newspaper; meanwhile he printed his new books in this printing
office with the help of his family. He was exiled to Rhodes (1873) because of
an article he wrote in the review he published called Dağarcık (1873). He worked as the editor of Takvim-i Vakayi newspaper and as the director of the State Printing
House in 1877.
In 1877, he started publishing Tercüman-ı Hakikat newspaper, which was
one of the most long-published newspapers of the Turkish press. He wrote a lot
of novels and plays in Rhodes where he stayed for three years. He returned to
İstanbul when Sultan Abdülaziz, who exiled him, was taken down off the throne.
He refrained from writing political articles that would provoke the government
during the period of Abdülhamid II. With this attitude, he received support
from the palace. He became Chief Clerk of the Quarantine Office in 1885 and
second chairman of the Board of Health Affairs in 1895. He worked as a
university lecturer of history, the history of religion and philosophy after
1909.
Midhat Efendi wrote more than two
hundred works comprising stories, novels, plays and research. That he tried to
give information on every subject was criticized, but that he could give
pleasure to his readers was appreciated. Ahmet Midhat, who was of the opinion
that in literary works it was possible to attain original discourse by starting
to imitate the West, wrote works which defended Islam against Christianity and
which criticized the opinions of western philosophers. Ahmet Midhat’s novel Müşâhedat (Witness), as well as Nabızade Nazım’s
story called Karabibik (Karabibik) is one of the first naturalist essays. However, Ahmet Midhat also
criticized the naturalism of Zola severely. He did not criticize the naturalist
attitude but the lack of morality, of which he never lost his concern. He
prioritized being didactic in his works. For instance, he described the
characteristics of women that should be predominant in society with the names
of four female characters in his book called Felsefe-i Zenân (Philosophy of Women): Akıle (Intellectual),
Fazıla (Virtuous), Kamile (Mature) and Zekiye (Clever).
WORKS:
SHORT STORY: Kıssadan Hisse (From Tale to Moral, 1870), Letâif-i Rivâyât (The Tradition of Anecdotes, 25 articles and 30
stories, 1870-94), Durûb-ı Emsâl-i
Osmaniye Hikemiyatını Tasvir (Describing The Reasons of Ottoman Proverbs,
1872).
NOVEL: Hasan Mellah (Hasan Mellah, 1874), Dünyaya İkinci Geliş (The Second
Coming into The World, 1874), Hüseyin
Fellah (Hüseyin Fellah, 1875), Felatun Bey'le Rakım Efendi (Felatun Bey and Rakım Efendi 1875-1906), Karı Koca Masalı (The Tale of a Wife and Husband, 1875), Paris'te Bir Türk (A Turk in Paris,
1876), Süleyman Musli (Süleyman
Musli, simplified with the name Süleyman Musul, 1971), Çengi (Public Dancing Girl, 1877; new edition by Mustafa
Miyasoğlu, 2003), Yeryüzünde Bir Melek (An
Angel on the World, 1878), Henüz On Yedi
Yaşında (Just Seventeen, 1880),
Karnaval (Carnival, 1880), Vah (What
a Pity, 1881), Acâîb-i Âlem (Stranger
of the World, 1881), Dürdâne Hanım (Dürdane
Hanım, 1881), Cellat (The
Executioner, 1883), Esrâr-ı Cinâyât (The
Secret of Murders, 1883), Hayret (Astonishment,
1884), Haydut Montori (The Bandit
Montori, 1887), Arnavutlar-Solyatlar (The
Albanian-The Soliats, 1887), Demir Bey (Demir
Bey, 1887), Gürcü Kızı (The Georgian
Girl, 1888), Müşahedât (Witnesses, 1890), Papazdaki Esrar (Mystery of the
Priest, 1890), Hayal ve Hakikat (Imagination
and Reality, 1891), Ahmed Metin ve Şirzad
(Ahmed Metin and Şirzad, 1890),
Taaffüf (Morality, 1895), Gönüllü (The
Volunteer, 1896), Eski Mektuplar (Old
Letters, 1897), Jön Türk (Young Turk,
1908).
PLAY: Açıkbaş (Bareheaded, 1874),
Ahz-i SârYâhut Avrupa'nın Eski Medeniyeti (Revenge or the Old Civilization
of Europe, 1874), Hükm-i Dil (The Decision of the Heart, 1874), Zuhur-i Osmaniyan (The Ascend of the
Ottomans, 1877), Çerkes Özdenleri (Ciracassian
Pendants, 1883), Eyvah (Oh My God!,
1884).
THOUGHT-RESEARCH: Kâinat (The Universe, world history, 15
books, 1871-81), Üss-i İnkılap (Revolution
Base, about the time of Abdülaziz, 3 volumes, 1877-78), Ekonomi Politik (Economy Politics, 1887), Müntehâbât-ı Tercüman-ı Hakikat (Selections from Tercüman-ı
Hakikat, articles, 3 volumes, 1893),
Müdafaa (Protection, the protection of Islam against Christianity, 3
volumes, 1883-85), Mufassal Osmanlı Tarihi
(Detailed History of the Ottomans, 3 volumes, 1885-87), Şopenhavr'ın Hikmet-i Cedîdesi (Philosophy of Schopenhauer, a criticism of
western philosophy, 1887), Volter (Voltaire,
1887), Beşir Fuad (Beşir Fuad, 1887), Müntehâbât-ı Ahmet Midhat (Last Works
of Ahmet Midhat, articles, 3 volumes, 1888-89), Avrupa'da Bir Cevelan (Observations in Europe, 1889), İstibşar (Good News, 1892),
Muhaberât ve Muhaverât (Communication and Interview, 1893), Beşâir (Good Tidings, 1895), Niza-ı İlmü Din (Conflict in Religion, 4 volumes,
1895-1910), Tarih-i Umûmî (General
History, 2 volumes, 1910), Tarih-i Edyân (History
of Religions, 1911), Kadınların Felsefesi
(Philosophy of Women, new edition by Handan İnci, 1998), Felsefe Metinleri (Philosophical
Texts, new edition by Erdoğan Erbay and Ali Utku, 2002).
MEMOIR: Menfâ (The Exile, autobiography,
1883; exile memories in Rhodes, 1876; new edition, 2002).
In addition, Ahmet Midhat Efendi wrote text books,
encyclopedic works and translations. His 14 books were published by the Turkish
Language Association in
REFERENCE (Başlıcaları): Hikmet Dizdaroğlu / Ahmet Midhat ve Klâsikler (Hisar, sayı: 7, Kasım 1950), Mustafa Baydar / Ahmet Midhat (1954), Hakkı Tarık Us / Bir Jübilenin İntiba’ları: Ahmet Midhat’ı Anıyoruz! (1955), Bursalı Mehmed Tahir / Osmanlı Müellifleri I (1972), Orhan Okay / Batı Medeniyeti Karşısında Ahmed Midhat Efendi (1975), Melike Türkdoğan / Midhat Efendi’nin Jöntürk Romanından Geleneksel Kadından Modern Kadına (Yedi İklim, sayı: 115, Ekim 1999), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
