Hüseyin Nihal Atsız

Turkologist, Writer, Poet

Birth
12 January, 1905
Death
11 December, 1975
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Education
İstanbul University Faculty of Literature
Horoscope
Other Names
Atlı, Atsız, Bozkurt, Çiftçioğlu, M. Emin, Namık Kemal, Selim Pusat...

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).

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