Periodical
publisher and writer (b. 1845, İstanbul – d. 1910). He was educated in
Gynecium. His second application to publish a newspaper was permitted and he
began to publish the newspaper Basiret
(1869-78) with the help of three hundred lira given by the state. He featured
well-known writers of the period in his newspaper. He was rewarded by the
Prussian Embassy after the 1870 Franco-Prussian war (1871) with 1000 Marks and
a press machine as he had supported Prussia during the war. In the same year he
was invited to Germany and was introduced to Bismark. After he returned to
Turkey, he renovated his newspaper building.
In 1874,
he published a humorous periodical named Kahkaha.
But he was charged with humiliating the security forces and was imprisoned for
three months. His newspaper was shut down after an article by Ali Suavi, who
had arranged the Çırağan Raid, was published. He was arrested and then exiled
to Jerusalem. He was pardoned during the Constitutional Monarchy Period, then
returned to İstanbul and began to publish his newspaper again, but the changing
conditions of the time meant he was not successful. He closed down Basiret and lived in Berlin for a while.
WORKS:
Yıldız'ın Hatası (Yıldız’s
Failure, 1908), İstanbul'da Yarım
Asırlık Vakayi-i Mühimme (The
Important Events in İstanbul during Half a Century, 1909; new edition,
1976), İstanbul Mektupları (İstanbul Letters, edited by Nuri
Sağlam, 2002).
