Poet and writer (b.
1850, İstanbul - d. 13 April 1893). His real name was Ömer. After studying at
Fevziye School, he studied at the Madrasah Muslim School in Varna where he had
gone with his mother upon the death of his father. He traveled around Anatolia
and visited many cities as the private secretary of Kürt Sait Paşa whom he had
met while he was working as a teacher at Varna Secondary School. When the same
Paşa was appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he worked there for a
while but he resigned soon after and started to manage the literature page of
the newspaper Tercüman-ı Hakikat (1883).
His love poems were published in this newspaper by his father-in-law Ahmet
Mithat Efendi, which he didn’t like, so he left Tercüman-ı Hakikat in 1885 and became the editor of the newspapers Saadet and Mürüvvet. He
also worked as a literature teacher at Galatasaray High School and the School
of Law. His poetry work named Ertuğrul Bey Gazi that he had written
two years before his death was submitted to Sultan Abdülhamit and was much
appreciated. Upon this, he was appointed as an annalist in 1891. He died at a
young age from a heart attack. He is buried in the gardens of Sultan Mahmut’s
Tomb.
He supported the devotion to traditional
divan poetry in the discussions of his age in opposition to Recaizade Ekrem and
Abdulhak Hamit. He had an influence on the authors of the “Wealth of Science
Movement” with his excellent use of the prosodic meter and his profound
understanding of literature. He was especially careful about using Turkish
properly. He also carried out work on some dictionary. Besides his translations
from Arabic, Persian and French, he wrote about forty works. He is famous for
his poetry books. He is also famous with his critique Dedeme (To My Grandfather),
as well as his book İslahat-ı Edebiye (The Reform of Literature) about
the terminology of literature and Lugat-ı Naci (The Dictionary of
Naci).
WORKS:
POETRY: Terkib-i Bend-i Muallim Naci (The Arrangement of the Writing of
Muallim Naci, in response to the Arrangements of Bağdatlı Ruhi and Ziya Paşa,
1874), Ateşpâre (The Piece of Fire,
1883), Şerâre (The Spark, 1884), Fürûzan (The Glittering, 1886), Mir'at-ı Bedayi
(Mirror of the Bauty, 1896, 54 verses to flatter Sultan II. Abdülhamid,
90 verses in total),Yadigâr-ı Naci (The
Memorial to Naci, his poems collected after his death, 1897), Musa bin Ebü'l-Gâzân Yahut Hamiyyet
(Musa Bin Ebü’l-Gazan or National Honor, an examination of a legend narrating
the wars and testimonies of Andalusian Muslim Heroes, 1882), Ertuğrul Bey Gazi (Ertuğrul Bey Gazi, an examination of a legend, 1894).
CRITIQUE-DICTIONARY:
Yazmış Bulundum (I Once Wrote, 1884),
Muallim (The Teacher, newspaper
articles, 1884), Demdeme (Noise, in
response to the Zemzeme of Recaizade, 1886), Müdafaânâme (Written Defense, 1886), Islahat-ı Edebiyye (The Reform of Literature, about literary terms
and punctuation, edited by Dr. Alemdar Yalçın and Abdulkadir Heyber, 1984), Lugat-ı Naci (The Dictionary of Naci,
1891, 1978).
HISTORY OF LITERATURE: Osmanlı Şairleri (The Ottoman Poets,
1890), Esâmi (Names, About 850
well-known people in the Muslim World, an encyclopedic work, 1891).
LETTER: Mektuplarım (My Letters, 79 letters the addressee of which is
unknown, 1886), İntikad (Critics,
Corresponce with the first Turkish Positivist Beşir Fuad, 1887), Muhaberat ve Muhaverat (Correspondence
with Ahmet Mithad, 1894).
TEXT BOOK: Talim-i Kıraat (Education for Reading the Koran, a children’s
reading book, 1885), Mekteb-i Edeb
(The School of Good Manners, some explanations for Talim-i Kıraat-
Learning of Reading, 1885), Vezaif-i
Ebeveyn (The Responsibilities of Parents, regarding education and training,
1887).
PLAY: Heder (The Loss, 1910).
NOVEL: Define (The Treasure, Ferit Ragıp Tuncor, 2003).
OTHER WORKS: İ'caz-ı Kur'an (About the Koran’s Being a Miracle, 1884), Medrese Hatıraları (The Memories of Madrasah, Muslim School, 1886), Yedigâr-ı Avni (The Memorial of Avni, His meeting with Yenişehirli Avni and a translation of 15 verses of poetry, 1886), Nevadirü'l-Ekâbir (Unique Greats, notes concerning various works, 1887), Mehmed Muzaffer Mecmuası (The Review of Mehmed Muzaffer, according to A. Hamdi Tanpınar, this work is a biography of Şeyh Galib, 1889), Sünbüle / Ömer'in Çocukluğu (Virgo / Childhood of Ömer, his biography up to age eight, 1890, by M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ, 1969), Necm-i Saadet (Newspaper Articles). He also translated from Arabic and Persian.
REFERENCE: Mehmet Kaplan / Şiir Tahlilleri 2 (1963), Kenan Akyüz / Batı Te’sirinde Türk Şiiri Antolojisi (1970), Bursalı Mehmed Tahir / Osmanlı Müellifleri II (1972), Celâl Tarakçı / Muallim Naci Efendi (Hayatı ve Eserlerinin Tedkiki) (Doktora tezi, Erzurum 1973), Abdullah Uçman / Muallim Naci, Hayatı-Şahsiyeti-Eserleri (1974), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal / Son Asır Türk Şairleri (c. 3, 2000), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Edebiyatımızın Güleryüzü (2002), Birsen Pekçolak - Zeki Büyüktanır / Homeros’tan Günümüze Anadolu Destanları (2002), İsmail Parlatır / “Muallim Nâci” Büyük Türk Klâsikleri (c. 8, 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).
