Poet and
writer (b. 12 January 1905, İstanbul - d. 11 December 1975). He also used the
pen names Atlı, Atsız, Bozkurt, Çiftçioğlu, M. Emin, Namık Kemal, Selim Pusat,
Sururi Ermete and T. Bayındırlı. He received primary and secondary education at
various schools in İstanbul and when he was attending the tenth grade of
İstanbul High School, he entered Military School of Medicine (1922). He was
dismissed from the school after refusing to salute an officer from Baghdad
(1925). After working as an assistant teacher and clerk for a while, he
graduated from İstanbul University, Faculty of Literature (1930) and in the
same year, he became an assistant at the faculty. He worked as a teacher at
various elementary and high schools in Malatya, Edirne (1933-38) and İstanbul
(1939-44), where he was sent in exile. He was dismissed from the teaching
profession in 1944 because of his articles published in the review Orkun. In the same year, he was
sentenced to four months in prison after being tried for insulting Sabahattin
Ali. However, his sentence was suspended. In 1945, he was tried with other
Turkists because of the demonstrations on May 3rd, was sentenced to four and a
half months in prison and his sentence was overturned at the court of appeals.
Later on, he worked as a civil
servant at the Süleymaniye Library (1949) and as a teacher at Haydarpaşa High
School. He was once again dismissed because of a conference and resumed his
duty at the Süleymaniye Library in 1952. After working there for seventeen
years, he retired in 1969. He was sentenced to fifteen months for his articles
that were published in the review Ötüken
and that led to social conflicts. He was pardoned by the President due to
health problems in 1974.
One of the
most active and aggressive defenders of the Turkist and Turanist ideals during
the Republican period, Nihal Atsız published his articles defending such ideas
in the reviews Atsız Mecmua (15 May
1931-25 September 1932), Orhun (5
November 1933-16 July 1934; 1 October 1943-1945), Orkun (1952-57), Ötüken
(1 January 1964-73). He was famous for his studies on history and the history
of literature and published much research.
WORKS:
RESEARCH: Onaltıncı Asır Şairlerinden Edirneli Nazmi (Edirneli Nazmi, a Poet
of the 16th Century, 1934), Türk Edebiyat
Tarihi (History of Turkish Literature, 1940), Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesinden Seçmeler I-II (Selections from the
Travel book of Evliya Çelebi, 1971-72),
Türk Tarihi Üzerine Toplamalar (Compilations about Turkish History, 1935), Dokuz Boy Türkleri ve Osmanlı Sultanları
Tarihi (Turks of the Nine Tribes and the History of Ottoman Sultans,
translation of the work titled Behçetü’t
Tevarih -History of Optimism by Şükrullahi Rami, 1939), 900. Yıldönümü (900th Anniversary,
1940), Müneccimbaşı Şeyh Ahmed Dede
Efendi (Chief Astrologer of the Sultan, Şeyh Ahmed Dede Efendi, 1940), Osmanlı Tarihleri I (Ottoman History I),
Ahmedî - Dâstân ve Tevârih-i Âl-i Osman (The
Famous Epic and the History of Great Ottomans), Aşık Paşaoğlu Ahmet Aşıki / Tevarih-i Al-i Osman (Aşık Paşaoğlu
Ahmet Aşıki / History of Great Ottomans),
Şükrullah / Behçetü’t-Tevarih (Şükrullah, History of Optimism), 1949), Osmanlı Tarihine Ait Takvimler (Calendars of Ottoman History, 1961), Osmanlı Tevarih-i Cedid-i Mir’at-ı Cihan (Ottoman
History, A New Mirror of the World, 1961), Türk
Tarihinde Meseleler (Problems in Turkish History, 1966), Aşıkpaşaoğlu Tarihi (History by
Aşıkpaşaoğlu, 1970), Oruç Bey Tarihi
(History by Oruç Bey, 1973), Hicri 858
Yılına Ait Takvim (Calendar of the Muslim Year 858, 1974), İstanbul Kütüphanelerinde Tanınmış Osmanlı
Tarihleri (Famous Turkish History Books at Libraries in İstanbul, 1957), Kemalpaşaoğlu’nun Eserleri (The Works of
Kemalpaşaoğlu, 1966), İstanbul
Kütüphanelerine Göre Ebussuud Bibliyografyası (Bibliography of Ebussuud
according to Libraries in İstanbul, 1967), Ali
Bibliyografyası (Bibliography of Ali, 1968).
POETRY: Yolların Sonu (End of the Ways, 1946).
TRAVEL
LITERATURE: Çanakkale’ye Yürüyüş (The March to the Dardanelles,
1933).
NOVEL: Dalkavuklar Gecesi (Night of the Flatterers, a satire on the
Kemalist period about an event at the time of the Hittites, 1941), Bozkurtların Ölümü (Death of the Gray
Wolfs, 1946), Bozkurtlar Diriliyor
(The Gray Wolfs Revived, 1949), Deli Kurt
(Mad Wolf, 1958), Ruh Adam
(Spirit Man, autobiographic, 1972).
ARTICLE-CRITICISM: Şart Bayına Cevap (Answer to Mr.
Condition, 1933), Komünist Donkişot’u
Proleter Burjuva Nazım Hikmetof Yoldaş’a (To Proletariat Bourgeois Comrade
Nazım Hikmetov, the Communist Don Quixote, 1935), İçimizdeki Şeytanlar (The Devils Inside Us, 1940), Hesap Böyle Verilir (That is How
Accounts are Given, 1943), En Sinsi
Tehlike (The Most Insidious Danger, 1944), Bir Ordinaryüs’ün Fahiş Yanlışları (Vital Mistakes of a
Distinguished Professor, 1961), Türk Ülküsü
(Ideal of the Turks, 1956).
LETTER: Atsız’dan Adile Ayda’ya Mektuplar (Letters to Adile Ayda from
Atsız, 1989).