Poet and writer (b. 1867, İstanbul - d. 27 August 1937). He was the son
of Namık Kemal. He sometimes used A. Nadir and İlhâm as pen names in his poems.
He was educated by a tutor during his father’s official service on Rhodes
(1884) and on the island of Chios (1887). During the reign of Abdülhamid II, he
served as the clerk to the chamberlain until he became the Administrator of
Jerusalem (1888-1905). Later he served as the Governor of Beirut and the
Mediterranean Islands Province, as a professor of text interpretation at
İstanbul University (1913-1933) and as a teacher at Galatasaray High School. In
the last years of his life he struggled to make a living. When he became ill,
he was treated by the famous physician, Mazhar Osman. His grave is in
Zincirlikuyu, İstanbul.
Ali Ekrem, whose first poem was
published in Resimli Gazete, became famous for his poems published in the
review Servet-i Fünun in 1896. As he disagreed with Tevfik Fikret, sometimes he
wrote for the review Musavver Malumat, which had opposing opinions to those of
the Scientific Wealth Movement. He was
banned from writing until 1908. He acquired a great reputation with his poem
Vasiyet (Testament) inspired by the Greek War of 1897. He wrote epic poems
during World War I and the National Struggle. He was one of the first poets to
try the syllabic meter but his poems never passed an average level. He also
produced work in the areas of theatre, literature and history.
WORKS:
POETRY: Zilal-i
İlham (Inspiration of the Humbled, 1908), Kaside-i Askeriye
(Military Eulogy, 1908), Kırmızı Fesler (The Red Fezzes, 1908), Ruh-i
Kemal (The Spirit of Maturity, 1909), Ordunun Defteri (The Inventory
of the Army, verse and prose, 1918), Anavatan (Motherland, 1921), Vicdan
Alevleri (The Flames of Conscience, 1925), Şiir Demeti (Bundle of
Poems, 1925).
PLAY: Baria
(Perfect, 1908), Sultan Selim (Sultan Selim, serialized, 1910), Sükût
(The Silence, serialized, 1919), Mama Dadım Darılır (Mama, Nanny will
Scold, comedy, serial, 1919)
STUDY-MONOGRAPHY:
Lisan-ı Osmanî (The Ottoman Language, 1914), Lisan-ı Edebiyat
(The Language of Literature, 1914), Recaizade Ekrem (Recaizade Ekrem,
1924), Mesalik-i Edebiye (Ways of Literature, 1928), Namık Kemal
(Namık Kemal, 1930), Lisanımız (Our Language, 1930).
REFERENCE: İsmail Parlatır / Ali Ekrem Bolayır (1987), TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (c. 6, 1992), Süleyman Hayri Bolay / Ferit Kam (1988), TDE Ansiklopedisi (c. 1, s. 457), İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal / Son Asır Türk Şairleri (c. I, 1999), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (gen. 6. bas. 1999), TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001), İhsan Işık / 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).
