Aşık Mahzuni Şerif

Musician, Folk Poet

Birth
17 November, 1940
Death
17 May, 2002
Horoscope
Other Names
Şerif Cırık

Minstrel and composer (b. 17 November 1940, Berçenek / Afşin / K. Maraş – d. 17 May 2002, Köln / Germany). Before the primary school, he attended the Elbistan madrasah to learn the Holy Koran. He attended the primary school in Berçenek, the Mersin 3rd Noncommissioned Officers Training School (1959), and the Ankara Technical School for Military Equipment. He was discarded from the army before graduating from the Kuleli Military High School.

He learned playing the bağlama* and saying poems from his uncle Aşık Fezali Baba when he was very young. His concerts at home and abroad and his records were challenged by the prohibitive mentality of the term, and went to jail several times after 1969. He was tried with execution two times. Besides his bağlama*, he also used his pen to express his emotions and ideas, and for years his articles appeared in the newspapers Milliyet, Meydan, Anadolu'nun Sesi, and the reviews Pir Sultan, Hacı Bektaş, Kızıldeli, Ozanca etc. Besides his books, he published about 400 records, ten long-plays, and over 70 cassettes. He has published nine books. He became the president of the Board for Discipline in the General Center of the Pir Sultan Abdal Societies; a member of the board of trustees in the Hacı Bektaş Veli Anatolian Cultural Foundation, and the president of the honorary board of the Association of Minstrels. He has a son called Emrah, and four daughters called Züleyha, Derya, Şeyda and Yetiş. Mahzuni Şerif played a significant role, particularly in introducing the Bektaşi culture to the world.

WORKS (Poetry):

Dom Dom Kurşunu (Bullet for Pig, interview and collection by Battal Pehlivan, 1985), Gümüş Yelek, Seçme Şiirler (Silver Vest, Selected Poems, interview and collection by İslam Çankaya, 1994), Berçenekli Mahzuni (Berçenekli Mahzuni), Dolunaya Tül Düştü (Veil Fell upon the Full Moon, 1995), 2000 Mahzuni (2000 Mahzuni, 2000).

REFERENCE: Yurt Ansiklopedisi (c. VIII, 1982-1983), Süleyman Yağız / Yürü Bre Hızır Paşa (1983), Büyük Larousse (c. 13, s. 7680, 1986),  A. İhsan Aktaş / Anadoluyu Kucaklayan Ozan (1990), Süleyman Zaman / Mahzuni Şerif – Yaşamı – Dünya Görüşü – Şiirleri (1997), Attila Aşut / 2002 Yılında Kaybettiğimiz Gazeteci Yazar ve Yayıncılar (Çağdaş gazetesi, sayı: 54, Haziran 2002), Ozan Naçâri Baba / Şairler ve Ozanlar Antolojisi (2002), İhsan Işık / Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, 2007) – Ünlü Sanatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 5, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).

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