Şemseddin Sami

Writer (b. 1 June 1850, Ioannina / Greece - d. 1 July 1904, İstanbul). He completed his secondary education at a Greek gymnasium in Ioannina (1868). He learned French, Italian, Ancient Greek, Arabic and Persian during his school years. Coming to İstanbul, he began to work as a clerk in the Press Office (1871). In addition he wrote for the newspapers Siraç, İbret and Hadika. When he went to Tripoli as an exile, he managed the newspaper Trablusgarb Vilayet (1874). When he was pardoned and returned to İstanbul, he published the newspapers Sabah and Tercüman-ı Şark and the reviews Aile and Hafta (1876-80).

Later on, he was appointed as the First Secretary of the Military Investigation Commission. He continued in this position until the end of his life. However, from 1890, he was put under surveillance at his villa in Erenköy and was forbidden to invite any guests. At first, he was buried in the Sahrayı Cedid Graveyard in Erenköy, but later his body was transferred to his family graveyard in Feriköy.

In addition to his newspaper and review writing that he continued with for many years, he also wrote plays, novels and grammar books. He wrote Taaşşuk-ı Talat ve Fitnat (Love of Talat and Fitnat), which is considered the first compilation book of Turkish literature (1872). He prepared pocket books for the Armenian publisher Mihran Efendi. He translated famous western classics, Sefiller (Les Miserables) (1880) and Robinson (Robinson Crusoe, 1884). He produced important works in the field of language, for which he displayed most talent. He translated Orhun Yazıtları (Orhun Inscriptions) into Turkish. He made the first research on Kutadgu Bilig (Wisdom of Royal Glory) He prepared the largest dictionary of the Ottoman Turkish Language Kamus-i Türkî (Turkish Dictionary, 1900) and the largest encyclopedia of his era, Kamusu'l -A'lâm (Dictionary of Proper Nouns).

WORKS:

NOVEL: Taaşşuk-ı Talat ve Fitnat (Love of Talat and Fitnat, 1872).

PLAY: Besa Yahud Ahde Vefa (Agreement or Loyalty to a Promise, 1875), Seydi Yahya (Seydi Yahya, 1875), Gave (Gave, 1876).

RESEARCH-DICTIONARY: Medeniyet-i İslâmiye (Civilization of Islam, 1879), Esatir (Mythology, 1879), Kadınlar (Women, 1879), Kamus-ı Fransevî (French Dictionary, from French to Turkish, 1882, from Turkish to French, 1885), Lisan (Language, 1886), Usul-i Tenkit ve Tertib (Ways of Criticism and Composition, 1886), Kamusu'l-Alâm (History-Geography, encyclopedia of famous men, 6 volumes, 1889-93), Nev-Usul Sarf-ı Türkî (New Turkish Grammar, 1890), Kamus-ı Türkî (Turkish Dictionary, 2 volumes, 1899-1900).