Historian
of literature and bibliographer (b. 1870, İstanbul - d. 25 May 1957). His full
name was İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal. He is a descendant of the Esteemed
Hüseyin through his father. He was brought up with private tutoring. He took
lessons from İpekli Tahir Efendi (father of Mehmet Akif Ersoy), Hasan Tahsin
Efendi (Clerk of Beyazıt Library and the imam of Ali Paşa Mosque) and from
Trabzonlu Hüsnü Efendi. He left Political School because of health problems. He
continued with his lectures for some time at Law School and at Madrasah. He
learnt Arabic, Persian and French and was interested in calligraphy and music.
He
lived in Adana, Elazığ, Ankara, İzmir and on the Islands as his father was a
civil servant. He was employed at the Office of Correspondence of the Grand
Vizier, as the First Secretary of the Inspection Commission of the Sublime
Porte, at the General Directorate of the Distinguished Province and Head of the
Clerical Office (1908). He was a member of the commission that checked the
official documents and journals during the reign of Abdülhamid. He contributed
to the foundation of Islamic Works of Art and Archeology Museum, during the
years of World War I. He was also a member of the Ottoman History Council (1923)
and the Committee of Turkish History. He also held a post in the Administration
of Public Debts. He was the President of the commission for the classification
of the archives at Topkapı Palace (1924), and he retired after being appointed
to the directorship of the Museum of Islamic Works (1927-35). He worked for the
Grand Vizier for fourteen years. His grave is in the Merkez Efendi Graveyard.
He
participated at some scientific meetings abroad and received tokens of
appreciation from presidents of foreign countries for his studies. Besides
this, he was the advisor for the Encyclopedia of Islam. Throughout his life, he
never married. He donated all the archive that he collected during his life to
the İstanbul University Library, and his mansion in Mercan and the İbnülemin
Mahmud Kemal Dormitory to the Science Dissemination Society and to the İmam
Hatip High School charity. His articles were published in the newspapers Tarih,
Tercüman-ı Hakikat as well as in Resimli Gazete, Asır, Mütâleâ,
Beyanü'l Hakk, which he published with his friends. İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal
İnal greatly contributed to our cultural life with his studies and valuable
works.
WORKS:
Hülâsâ-i Ziraat (A Summary of
Agriculture, 1890), Ahlâk (Morality, 1891), Revzatü'l Kemal (The
Garden of Kemal, 1891), Menafiü's-Sav (The Good of the Word, 1892), Kemâlü'l-Hikmet
(Perfection of Hikmet - The Life of Hersekli Arif Hikmet, 1911), Kemalü'l-İsmet
(Perfection of İsmet - the life of İsmet Efendi, one of the librarians of
Abdülhamit II, 1912), Kemalü'l-Meşâhir (Life of Celebrities, life
stories of some famous people, 1928-29), Tarihçe-i Evkaf ve Teracim-i
Ahval-i Nüzzar (On Ministries and the Ministers of Foundations), Son
Asır Türk Şairleri (Turkish Poets of the Last Century, 12 fascicles,
1930-42; second edition 1970), Osmanlı Devrinde Son Sadrazamlar (Last
Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire, 14 fascicles, 1940-53; fourth edition
1969), Son Hattatlar (The Last Calligraphers, 1955), Hoş Sadâ (Nice
Sound, biographies of musicians since 1875; completed by Avni Aktunç, grandson
of Yenişehirli Avni, 1958), Sabih (Beautiful, short story, 1898), Rahşan
(Rahşan, short story, not printed in a volume), Kamil Paşa'nın Sadareti ve
Konak Meselesi (Office of the Grand Vizier Kamil Paşa and the Matter of
Mansions, 1912), Bir Yetimin Sergüzeşti (Adventures of an Orphan Kid,
short story, not printed in a volume), Divan-ı Yahya (The Divan* of
Yahya, the life story and the poems of Sheikh-ul Islam Yahya, 1918), Divân-ı
Hikmet (The Divan*of Hikmet, the life story and poems of Hersekli Arif
Hikmet, 1918), Divan-ı Galib (The Divan*of Galip, the life story and
poems of Leskofçalı Galib, 1919), Menâkıb-ı Hünerverâ (Stories of the Gifted; the work of
Ali, his text and biography of the author, 1926), Tuhfe-i Hattatin
(Masterpieces of the Calligrapher; work of Müstakimzâde Şeyh Süleyman Sadeddin
Efendi, his text and biography of the author, 1928).
Besides these, about fifteen of his works have been published.
REFERENCE: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar / Edebiyat Üzerine Makaleler (1969), Hakkı Tarık Us (Elli Yıl mecmuası, s. 62-63, tsz.), Sedat Ağralı (Büyük Larousse, 1986), Taha Toros / Türk Edebiyatından Altı Renkli Portre (1998), Mehmet Behçet Yazar / Edebiyatçılar Alemi - Edebiyatımızın Unutulan Simaları (yay. haz. Mustafa Everdi, 1999), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Ömer Faruk Akün / TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (c. 21, 2000), TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Edebiyatımızın Güleryüzü (2002), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
