Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı

      Poet (b. 4 October 1910, Diyarbakır – d. 12 October 1956, Vienna / Austria). He attended primary school in Diyarbakır, Saint-Joseph Private French High School and Galatasaray High School in İstanbul (1913). He did not complete his undergraduate studies in İstanbul University and Vocational Commerce School. Although he went to Paris in order to complete his undergraduate studies, he had to return to Turkey due to the outbreak of the Second World War (1940). For a while, he was involved in business with his father, who had moved to İstanbul. Later going to Ankara, he worked as a translator in the Anadolu Agency, the Office of Agricultural Products and the Ministry of Labor. He lost the ability to speak due to a severe disease (1954). He was taken to Vienna on 6 September 1956 to continue his treatment that had not been successful in Turkey. However, he only survived for a month there. His body was brought to Turkey and buried in Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.

While at high school, his first poems appeared in the magazines Muhit and Servet-i Fünûn. His first article was published in the magazine Akademi (on 15 January 1931). His poems, short stories and articles were published in the magazines Muhit, Servet-i Fünûn, Varlık, Yücel, İnkılapçı, Gençlik, İnsan, Gündüz, Akpınar, Kültür Haftası, Demet, Ülkü, Pınar, İşte İstanbul, Yaratış, and Ankara; in the newspapers Cumhuriyet, Akşam (on the arts page), Vatan (on the arts page) and Sanat ve Edebiyat.

In 1946, he gained popularity with his poem “Otuz Beş Yaş” (Age Thirty-Five) by taking the first prize in a poetry competition organized by the Republican People’s Party. Using syllabic meter with great mastery, he avoided puns, regarding them as unnecessary and substituted them with a pure, easily understandable language and simple way of expression. In his works, he touched upon the topics such as the temporality of life, the beauty of life and humanism. Thanks to his perfect technique and subtle lyricism, he became one of the most successful poets of Turkish Literature. Apart from writing original poems, he also translated poems. In addition, he is the author of a large number of short stories. Thirty three of his poems were translated into Italian by Necdet Adabağ and published in Milan. Most of his short stories were published in the newspaper Cumhuriyet; for some of these stories the author used the pen names Cevad Sadık and İrfan Kudret.

WORKS:

POETRY: Ömrümde Sükut (Silence in My Life, 1933), Otuz Beş Yaş (Age Thirty-Five, 1946), Düşen Güzel (Falling, 1952), Sonrası (After That, a collection of his poems, ten poems he translated and articles written about him, 1957). Collections of his poems were published by Gültekin Samanoğlu (in the book called Seçmeler, Collection, 1971) and Asım Demirci (in the book called Bütün Şiirleri, Anthology of Cahit Sıtkı, 1983).

SHORT STORY:  Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı’nın Hikâyeciliği ve Hikâyeleri (Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı as an Author and his Short Stories, collected by Selahattin Önerli, 1976).

LETTER: Ziya’ya Mektuplar (Letters to Ziya, letters he had written between the years of 1930-46 to his friend from Galatasaray High School, Ziya Osman Saba, a poet: collected after Cahit Sıtkı’s death, 1957).

PROSE: Yazılar (Writing, this work includes articles, interviews and replies of the poet, prepared by Hakan Sazyek, 1992). 

 REFERENCE: Peyami Safa (Cumhuriyet, 27.10.1932-3.11.1932-10.11.1932), Varlık (sayı: 441, 442, 444, 445), Tarancı dergisi (sayı:1), İlhan Geçer / Düşten Güzel (Hisar, c. 2, sayı: 34, 1 Şubat 1953), Muvaffak Sami Onat (Hisar, c. 4, sayı: 73, Kasım 1956), Muzaffer Uyguner / Tarancı’nın Şiir Üzerine Düşünceleri (1960), Muzaffer Uyguner / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1966), Güngör Gençay / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1964), Şevket Beysanoğlu / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1969), Gültekin Sâmanoğlu / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1971), Mehmet Kaplan / Cumhuriyet Devri Türk Şiiri (1973, s. 86-96), Selahattin Önerli / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı’nın Hikâyeciliği ve Hikâyeleri (1976), İlhan Geçer / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1977), İnci Enginün / Evime ve Nihal’e Mektuplar (1989), 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) - Diyarbakır Ansiklopedisi (2013) - Geçmişten Günümüze Diyarbakırlı İlim Adamları Yazarlar ve Sanatçılar (2014), Reşid İskenderoğlu / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı ve Anılar (1993), Şevket Beysanoğlu / Cumhuriyet Dönemi Türk Edebiyatının Diyarbakırlı Üç Büyük Şairi Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı - Ahmed Arif - Sezai Karakoç (s.163-206, 1997), Vedat Yazıcı / Sözümüz Şairlerden Şiirlerden (1997), Adnan Binyazar / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (Ozanlar Yazarlar Kitaplar, 1998), Ruhi Nedimoğlu / Bir Kültür Yumağı Diyarbakır’dan (2002), Halil Soyuer / Şair Dostlarım (2004).

RESEARCH: Peyami Safa (Peyami Safa, a Turkish author, 1940).

In addition, he translated works about the lives of painters.  

REFERENCE Peyami Safa (Cumhuriyet, 27.10.1932-3.11.1932-10.11.1932), Varlık (sayı: 441, 442, 444, 445), Tarancı dergisi (sayı:1), İlhan Geçer / Düşten Güzel (Hisar, c. 2, sayı: 34, 1 Şubat 1953), Muvaffak Sami Onat (Hisar, c. 4, sayı: 73, Kasım 1956), Muzaffer Uyguner / Tarancı’nın Şiir Üzerine Düşünceleri (1960), Muzaffer Uyguner / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1966), Güngör Gençay / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1964), Şevket Beysanoğlu / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1969), Gültekin Sâmanoğlu / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1971), Mehmet Kaplan / Cumhuriyet Devri Türk Şiiri (1973, s. 86-96), Selahattin Önerli / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı’nın Hikâyeciliği ve Hikâyeleri (1976), İlhan Geçer / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (1977), İnci Enginün / Evime ve Nihal’e Mektuplar (1989), 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) - Diyarbakır Ansiklopedisi (2013) - Geçmişten Günümüze Diyarbakırlı İlim Adamları Yazarlar ve Sanatçılar (2014), Reşid İskenderoğlu / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı ve Anılar (1993), Şevket Beysanoğlu / Cumhuriyet Dönemi Türk Edebiyatının Diyarbakırlı Üç Büyük Şairi Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı - Ahmed Arif - Sezai Karakoç (s.163-206, 1997), Vedat Yazıcı / Sözümüz Şairlerden Şiirlerden (1997), Adnan Binyazar / Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (Ozanlar Yazarlar Kitaplar, 1998), Ruhi Nedimoğlu / Bir Kültür Yumağı Diyarbakır’dan (2002), Halil Soyuer / Şair Dostlarım (2004).