Writer and translator (b. 6 March 1911, İstanbul – d.
9 July 2004, İstanbul). His full name was Ahmet Vedat Günyol.
He attended the primary school section of the Diyarbakır High School, the Saint
Benoit High School (1934), and graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of
Law (1937). He completed his doctorate studies at the Faculty of Law in Paris
(1950), with the thesis “Devletler Hukukunda Birey” (Individual in the
International Law of States). He made translations for the reviews Şirket-i
Hayriye (1936) and Yücel (1936-50). He worked as an assistant of
public law, as a lecturer of French at İstanbul University, Faculty of Law
(1939-41), as a teacher of French at the Vefa High School (1940) and at the
Gedikpaşa Secondary School, as the director of publications and member of the
office of translation at the Ministry of National Education in Ankara (1942-50)
while working as a teacher of French at the Hasanoğlan High Village Institute
and at the Ankara Gazi High School; as a teacher of French at the Italian High
School (1950); and as a judicial counselor at Banko Di Roma (1955-56). Besides,
he was a member of the literary board of the encyclopedias Meydan Larousse,
Temel Britanica, Yurt Ansiklopedisi (The Encyclopedia of Homeland),
İslam Ansiklopedisi (The Encyclopedia of Islam); he also participated in
translation activities, and worked as a lawyer for about eight years. He gave
lectures on human rights and democracy at the Marmara Technical High School
after 1998. He was arrested after the military coup on 12 March 1971 for
establishing a secret organization, but was acquitted. He is buried at the Karacaahmet Graveyard.
His
criticisms and research articles were published in the newspapers Yücel (1938-56),
Ufuklar, which he published in collaboration with Orhan Burian (1952), in Yeni
Ufuklar (1953-76), which he published himself, in Cumhuriyet, and in
the reviews Adam Sanat, Milliyet Sanat, Tiyatro 76, Forum, Gösteri, ABC,
Yücel, Kapris, Varlık and
Saçak. He founded the Çan Publications together with Sabahattin
Eyuboğlu (1959) and published translations from Western literature. He
collected the Sedat Simavi Literature Award in 1989 with his book Gölgeden
Işığa (From Shadow to Light). He made translations from famous writers such
as P. Valery, W. Heisenberg, J. P. Sartre, Babeuf, B. Russel and T. More. He
was given an honorary doctorate by the Private Maltepe University.
WORKS:
ESSAY: Dile Gelseler (If They Could Speak, 1966), Yeni
Türkiye Ardında (Behind the New Turkey, 1966), Devlet İnsan mı? (Is
State a Human?, 1974), Bu Cennet Bu Cehennem (This Paradise, This Hell,
1975), Çalakalem (Writing Hastily, criticisms, 1977), Orman Işırsa (If
Forest is Illuminated, 1979), Daldan Dala (From a Branch to Another
Branch, 1982), Bilinç Yolunda (On the Way of Conscience, 1985), Güleryüzlü
Ciddilik (Seriousness with a Smiling Face, 1987), Yine de Yaşarken
(Living Anyway, 1990), Yaza Yaza Yaşarken (Living by Writing, 1991), Güne
Doğarken (Being Born to the Day, 1992), Dünden Bugüne (From Past to
Present, 1995), Gün Ola Harman Ola (Let Us See What the Day Brings,
2000), Günlerin İçinden (From the Inside of the Days, 2001).
COLLECTION: Konuşmalar-Çağdaş Türk Edebiyatının
Kıyıcığında (Speeches-On the Shores of Contemporary Turkish Literature,
1995).
RESEARCH: Prens Lütfullah Dosyası (The File of the
Prince Lütfullah, in collaboration with Orhan Cavit Tütengil, 1977), Sanat
ve Edebiyat Dergileri (The Reviews of Arts and Literature, 1986).
MEMOIR:
Gölgeden Işığa (From Shadow to Light, essay-memoir, 1988), Giderayak
Yaşarken (Living at the Last Moment, essay-memoir, 1989), Uzak Yakın
Anılar I (Distant-Near Memoirs I, 1990).
COLLABORATIVE WORK: Sey–reyle Dünyayı (Watch the World, in collaboration with the Greek journalist Robert Anheegger; simplification of the Turkish work of Evangelinos Misailidis titled “Temaşa-i Dünya ve Cefakâr u Cefakeş”-Watching the World and Long-Suffering, 1986), Shakespeare / Hayatı-Sanatı-Eserleri (Shakespeare / His Life, Art and Works, in collaboration with Orhan Burian, 1955), Aydınlar ve Toplum / Antonio Gramsci (The Intellectuals and the Society / Antonio Gramsci).
REFERENCE: Doğan Hızlan / Eleştirmede Sağlam İlkeler ve Dayanaklar (ABC, 19.11.1966), Ömer Faruk Toprak / Sosyalist Kültür Ansiklopedisi içinde (1980), Prof. Dr. Atalay Yörükoğlu (Öğretmen Dünyası, 1987), Ahmet Ümit / Vedat Günyol Hem Bilge Hem Çocuk – Aydın Ergil / Vedat Bey’in Öğrencisi Olmak (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 20.4.1995), Aydınlanmanın Işığında Vedat Günyol (haz. Feridun Andaç, 1997), Vedat Günyol Kitabı (haz. Alpay Kabacalı, 1997), Arife Kalender Önel - Eray Canberk - Alpay Kabacalı / Kültürümüzün Temel Taşlarından Biri (söyleşi) - Zeynep Aliye / Vedat Günyol: Bir Çağdaş Derviş (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 30.11.1997), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (6. bas. 1999), Feridun Andaç / Edebiyatımızın Yol Haritası (2000), Ulviye Alpay / Gün Ola Harman Ola - Muzaffer Uyguner /Günlük Yaşantının Yansımaları (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 10.5.2001), İnci Asena / Yirminci Yüzyılda Yazınımıza El Verenler (2001), Yirminci Yüzyılda Yazınımıza El Verenler (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 4.1.2001), Orman Işırsa (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 14.12.2001), Günlerin İçinden (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 14.12.2001), Zeynep Aliye / Vedat Günyol (Cumhuriyet Kitap, sayı: 402), Aydınlanmamızın Büyük Öğretmeni 90 Yaşında - Vedat Günyol İçin Çağrışımlar Günyol Üstüne (Cumhuriyet Kitap, 22.3.2001), TBE Ansiklopedisi (2001), Arat Ovalı / Vedat Günyol’u Yitirdik (Türk Dili Dergisi, Eylül-Ekim 2004), Vedat Günyol Vefat Etti (Hürriyet, 10.7.2004), Aydınlanmanın Yıldızı Söndü (Hürriyet, 10.7.2004), TDOE – TDE Ansiklopedisi 4 (2004).
