Vâlâ Nureddin (Vâ-nû)

Writer (b. 1901, İstanbul – d. 9 March 1967). He was the son of the governor of Thessalonica, Vala Nureddin Bey. He graduated from Galatasaray High School (1917) and the Eastern University in Moscow (1925) where he went after he studied at the Vienna Academy of Commerce for a year. He started to work as a journalist (1926) for the newspaper Vakit after his return to Turkey. He worked as a columnist for the newspaper Akşam for a long time (1927-38).

His anecdotes, interviews, art and literature articles were published in newspapers such as Haber that he published with Rasim Us, Cumhuriyet, Köroğlu, Tercüman and Havadis. He published his poetry in monthly poetry reviews run by Celal Sahir Erozan such as Birinci Kitap, İkinci Kitap etc. He is known mostly for his book Bu Dünya'dan Nazım Geçti (Nazım Passed Through This World, 1965) in which he wrote about his shared memories with Nazım Hikmet. His children’s novel Korkusuz Murat (Fearless Murat, 1966) that he wrote with his wife Nihal Karamağralı came second in the Doğan Kardeş Novel Competition.

WORKS:

PLAY: Ayak Takımı Arasında (The Lower Depths, by Gorky, performed in 1936, published in 1941), İflas (Bankruptcy, by Byornson., 1943), Batak (Swamp, by Gorki, 1943, with VâNû'nun Karşılık Görmeyen Aşkı -VâNû’s Unrequited Love), Tarihin Kaybettiği Kız (The Girl Whom History Lost, 1944), Antalya İkinci Dünya Harbinde Nasıl Güzelleşebildi (How Was Antalya Able to Become Beautiful during World War II, 1944).

MEMOIR: Bu Dünyadan Nazım Geçti (Nazım Passed Through This World, 1965).

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: Korkusuz Murat (Fearless Murat, with his wife Müzehher VâNû and Nihal Karamağralı, 1966).