Poet and writer (b. 1907, İstanbul – d. 6 October 1968). He completed
his secondary education at İstanbul Teacher Training School and the Private
İstiklal High School (1926). While he was a senior class student at İstanbul
Faculty of Law, he was sent to France. He studied philosophy and psychology at
Dijon and Lyon Universities in Paris. When he returned to Turkey he became an
associate professor at İstanbul University, Faculty of Law (1933) and became
professor (1942). His worked at this faculty until his death. He is buried in
Zincirlikuyu Graveyard.
His first poems were published in the reviews Güney and Hayat (1927).
He became one of the poets of the “Seven Torches Movement” along with Kenan Hulusi,
Cevdet Kudret, Muammer Lütfi, Vasfi Mahir Kocatürk, Ziya Osman Saba and Yaşar
Nabi Nayır. After the closdown of the review Yedi Meşale (1928, 8 volumes), published by these poets, he
published his poems in the reviews Muhit
(1932-33) and Varlık (1935-36). Later
on, he stopped writing poetry and made research on psychology, education and
folklore and translated from French. He worked as a writer of articles in the
newspapers Yeni Sabah (1948-64) and Yeni Haber. He also published articles
on literature in the newspapers Tan,
Kültür ve Edebiyat, Ulus
(1936-44). In 1967, he participated in the preparation work of the Turkish
edition of the encyclopedia Meydan
Larousse.
WORKS:
POETRY: Odalar ve Sofalar (Rooms and Halls,
1933).
RESEARCH: İstanbul'da Karagöz ve Karagöz'de İstanbul (Karagöz
in İstanbul and İstanbul in Karagöz, 1938),
Psikoloji ve Terbiye Bahisleri (Talking About Psychology and Good Manners,
1940), Karagöz (Karagöz, 1941), Tanzimat'ın Fransız Efkâr-ı Umu–miyesinde
Uyandırdığı Yankılar (The Echoes of Tanzimat in French Public Opinion,
1940), Folklor ve Millî Hayat (Folklore
and National Life, 1943), Roman ve
Okuyucu (Novel and Reader, 1944), Un
Point Sur La Carte (A Point On The Chart, the 41 stories by Sait Faik
Abasıyanık, translated into French, 1962).