Poet, musician and folklorist (b.1883, İstanbul – d. 3 February 1950,
Kırklareli). His real name was Abdülhavit Coşkunlu. He used Vahit as a pen
name. He was educated at Nuruosmaniye
Taş School,
the School for Orphans and the Ministry of War High School of Industry. He was
exiled to Dersim due to a disciplinary offense that he committed at the War Academy
(1905). He was appointed bandleader to the Elazığ Regiment when his musical
talents were discovered. The Governor of the Province of Sivas,
Akif Paşa, helped him collect examples of folkloric literature and music of the
region. He was invited to Moscow when he entered
Russia
and performed as second violinist in the Lepinski Orchestra for a while (1907).
After the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy, he returned to İstanbul
(1908). After a while he went to Edirne.
Late, he was appointed correspondence clerk of Vaslilikoz, a town now in Bulgaria.
He returned to İstanbul when the Balkan Wars began (1912). Until the end of
World War I, he worked in several state offices in Edirne,
Kırklareli, Çanakkale, Trablusşam, Jerusalem
and İstanbul, and as a teacher. During the invasion of Thrace by the Greeks, He
was known as the “bearded dervish” by the people of Thrace as he traveled from
village to village with his long beard, black turban and carrying a staff. In
1948, he retired from his job as census clerk in Yoğuntaş (Polos) in
Kırklareli.
His belonged to the Bektashi dervish sect and his research on Alewi
poets influenced his own poetry. His poems were popular with the general public
rather than the literary world, especially in Thrace where they were passed from
word of mouth. He tried to use a simple Turkish but he also wrote in the style
of Divan* literature in order to show that he could use prosodic meter. It was
the books and articles that he published on the poetry and music of the Alewi
and Bektashi dervish orders, which made him well known. His articles on
folkloric poetry and music that were published in the reviews and newspapers, Varlık, Karabük, Türk Folklor
Araştırmaları, Karaelmas, Ülkü, Altıok, Halkbilgisi Haberleri, Bartın,
Yeşilyurt have been invaluable due to their authenticity. He had been the
first researcher of a “secret” subject by compiling information about Bektashi
culture in relation to literature and music. His articles “ To Secret
Folkloric Music”, which were published in the reviews, Genç Amatör, Müzik ve Sanat Hareketleri, Ülkü, Millî Mecmua, Folklor
Postası aroused great interest. His research titled, Trakya'da Türk Kabileleri (Turkish Clans in Thrace), Türk Alevî Kadın Şairleri (Turkish-Alewi Women Poets), Bektaşî Nefesleri ve Notaları (Bektashi
poems and notes), eight stories and one play have not been published.
WORKS:
MEMOIR: Feryad-ı İstibdat (Cry
to Tyranny, 1910).
POETRY: Saz Şairleri Gibi... (Like
Poets with Stringed Instruments, 1940),
Benim Gibi (Like Me, 1945).
PLAY: Hafiye Darbesi yahut Bir
Kızın İntikamı (The Shock of a Secret Agent or Revenge of a Girl, 1911).
RESEARCH: Gizli Türk Halk Musikisi
ve Türk Musikisinde Armoni Meseleleri (Secret Turkish Folkloric Music and
the Issue of Harmony in Turkish Music, 1940), Gizil Türk Dini Oyunları (Potential Turkish Religious Tricks, 1941).
