Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın

Writer (b. 18 March 1892, İstanbul – d. 21 September 1959). He graduated from İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature (1914). He worked as a teacher of French and literature at the Military Advanced Veterinary School and the Advanced Teachers School. His interviews and travel notes were published in reviews and newspapers while working as a teacher between 1911 and 1920. He went to Ankara from İnebolu on the invitation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and he actively participated in the National Struggle.

He served as the head clerk at the Bukhara Embassy in 1922 and he was assigned as the press adviser at the Lausanne treaty negotiations. He became the Afyon parliamentary deputy (1923). He served in the parliament for a third and fourth term too. Afterwards, he worked as the General Secretary to the President (1933) and as the Ambassador to Tirana, Athens, Budapest, Rome and London. In 1952, he retired. He is buried in Rumelihisarı Cemetery.

Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın whose writing career started in 1914, published national, literary and political articles in many newspapers and reviews. His interview Anafartalar Kumandanı Mustafa Kemal'e Mülâkat (Interview with Anafarta Commander Mustafa Kemal) that was published in 1918 was the first article that introduced Mustafa Kemal in the Turkish press. He is known for his memoirs, interviews with authors and poems in free verse. His work Diyorlar ki (They Say, 1918) consisting of interviews that he made with living authors of his time was deemed the most successful work in its field. His articles were published in reviews and newspapers such as Servet-i Fünûn, Donanma, Tedrisat, Türk Yurdu, Dergâh, Vakit and Yeni Mecmua beginning in 1914.

WORKS (Essay-Research):

Diyorlar ki (They Say, conversations with authors, 1918, new edition, 1972), Geçmiş Günler (Past Days, anecdote, interview, 1919), Tevfik Fikret (Tevfik Fikret, memoirs on his life, 1919), Ayrılıklar (Separations, İstanbul memoirs, 1923), Damla Damla (Drop by Drop, poems in free verse, 1929), Anafartalar Kumandanı Mustafa Kemal'le Mülâkât (Interview with Anafarta Commander Mustafa Kemal, 1930), Boğaziçi Yakından (The Bosphorus Close Up, portraits, 1938), Atatürk'ü Özleyiş (Missing Atatürk, frontier memoirs, 1957), Atatürk'ün Hastalığı (Atatürk’s Illness, interview, 1959), İstiklal Yolunda (On the Way to Independence, 1960), Çanakkale'de Savaşanlar Dedi ki (Those Who Fought at Çanakkale Said That, 1961).

His translations were also published. New editions of his work were published by the Ministry of Culture in 2001. Furthermore, his complete works started to be published by the Turkish Language Association Publications in 2002.

REFERENCE: 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 (2007) – Ünlü Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).