Mizancı Mehmed Murad

Writer (b. 1853, Huraki / Tiflis / Dagestan / Caspian Sea - d. 1917, İstanbul). He graduated from Istowropol High School. He came to Turkey after finishing his higher education in Russia (1874). He worked in İstanbul as a history teacher and director at the School of Teacher Training, 1880), and as a history teacher at the School for Civil Servants, (1884). He published a weekly journal called Mizan (1885). He published Mizan in French in Paris during the era of Abdülhamit II (1894). When he returned to İstanbul upon the announcement of the Constitutional Monarchy, he was appointed as a member of the State Council.  However, he was exiled to Rhodes with the charge that he was involved in the events of March 31 (13 April 1908). He returned to İstanbul with a pardon announced before the Balkan War (1912-13). He is buried in Anadoluhisarı Cemetery.

Mehmed Murad, remembered as “Mizancı Murad” (Murad the Balancer) because of the journal he published and as “Tarihçi Murat” (Murat the Historian) because of the book Tarih-i Umumi (The General History) which he wrote when he was a teacher at the School of Civil Servants, became famous for his novel Turfanda mı Yoksa Turfa mı? (Is it New or Nonsense) in which he criticized the administration of the period he lived in.

WORKS:

Tarih-i Umumî (General History, 6 volumes, 1889), Muhtasar Tarih-i İslâm (The Concise History of Islam, Bahçesaray, 1890), Turfanda mı Turfa mı? (Is it New or Nonsense?, 1891, simplified by M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ with the name Mansur Bey, 1972), Devr-i Hamîdî Âsârı (The Legends of the Period of the Hamid, 1891), Le Palais de Yıldız et La Süblime Port (Yıldız Palace and Babıali*, Paris, 1896; with the name of Yıldız Saray-ı Hümayunu and Babıali -The Yıldız Palace and Babıali*, Cairo, 1895), Müdafaa Niyetine Bir Tecavüz (An Aggression with the Intention of Defense, Paris, 1896), La Force et la Faibless de la Turquie (The Power and the Weakness of Turkey, Geneva, 1897), Hürriyet Vadisinde Bir Pençe-i İstibdat (A Claw of Oppression in the Valley of Freedom, 1908), Mücahede-i Milliye (Religious Struggle of a Nation, 1908), Tarih-i Ebul-Faruk (The History of Ebul-Faruk, Ottoman History, 7 volumes, 1909-1914), Akıldan Bela (The Trouble of Intelligence, translation of a play by Griboyedov, 1883), Tencere Yuvarlandı Kapağını Buldu (The Pot Rolled and Found its Lid, comedy, 1909), Enkaz-ı İstibdat İçinde Züğürdün Tesellisi (Cold Comfort among the Ruins of Oppression, 1911), Meskenet Mazeret Teşkil Eder mi? (Is Poverty an Obstacle? 1911), Taharrî-yi İstikbal (The Search for the Future, 2 volumes, 1913-1914), Tatlı Emeller Acı Hakikatler (Sweet Intentions and Bitter Facts, 1912).

REFERENCE: İsmail Habib / Edebi Yeniliğimiz (1932), Selim Nüzhet Gerçek / Türk Gazeteciliği 1831-1931 (1931), Ahmet Bedevi Kuran / İnkılâb Tarihi­miz ve İttihad ve Terakki (1948), Şerif Mardin / Jön Türklerin Siyâsi Fikirleri (1964), Mücellidoğlu Ali Çankaya / Yeni Mülkiye Tarihi ve Mülkiyeliler (c. II, 1968), Kenan Akyüz / Modern Türk Edebiyatının Ana Çizgileri (1969), Hilmi Ziya Ülken / Türkiye’de Çağdaş Düşünce Tarihi (1979), Birol Emil / Mizancı Murad Bey - Hayatı ve Eserleri (1979), Arslan Tekin / Edebiyatımızda İsimler ve Terimler (2. bas. 1999), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (gen. 6. bas. 1999), İsmail Parlatır / Büyük Türk Klâsikleri (c. 9, 2004), 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).