Writer (b. 1867, İstanbul – d. 1922, İzmit). He went to Paris and Geneva when he was at the last grade at the School of Politics. He lived in Aleppo for five years where he had been exiled for his political actions after his return to Turkey (1888). He returned to İstanbul but when he learned that he would be exiled again, he fled to Europe (1894). After the declaration of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, he returned to İstanbul and became the editor-in-chief at the newspaper İkdam. He published the newspaper Peyam in 1913. He wrote articles, which strongly criticized the administration of the Union and Progress Party. He was among the ranks of the Liberty and Entente Party, which was against the cabinet. He was the Minister of the Interior and Education (1919) in the Damat Ferit Paşa cabinet. He took the nickname “Artin Kemal” because he united the newspaper Peyam with the newspaper Sabah belonging to Mihran Efendi, who was of Greek origin, and published it under the name Peyam-ı Sabah. Because of his rage at the Party of Union and Progress, he wrote articles against the National Struggle and its leaders, which he saw as a continuation of the Union and Progress Party. Therefore, he was arrested while he was visiting the barber’s in Beyoğlu in 1922 and was lynched in İzmit while he was being brought to Ankara. There were some who claimed that the murder was premeditated.
As well as working as a journalist, Ali
Kemal, who was one of the most talked-about individuals of his era, also wrote
literary works. In Peyam-ı Edebi, which was a supplement of the
newspaper Peyam, he brought together
the important personalities of his era such as Yakup Kadri, Yahya Kemal and
Rıza Tevfik. Ali Kemal, who followed the style of Muallim Naci in poetry, also
wrote novels.
WORKS:
NOVEL: İki Hemşire (Two Nurses, 1899),
Çölde Bir Sergüzeşt (An Adventurer in the Desert, 1990), Bir Safha-i Şebab (An Age of Youth - his first two novels
together, 1913).
MEMOIR-STUDY: Sorbonne Dârül–fünûnunda Edebiyat-ı Hakikiye Dersleri (Realist Literature Lessons at Sorbonne, 1990), Paris Musahebeleri (Paris Interviews, 3 volumes, 1899, 1913), Şarkîye Medhal (Introduction to the Orient, Egypt, 1900), Yıldız Hatırat-ı Elîmesi (The Sad Memory of Yıldız, 1910), Cevabımız (Our Answer, 2nd edition 1911,), Bir Safhayı Tarih (A Phase of History, 1913), Fethet (Conquer, his articles, 1913; under the title Ömrüm-My Life, 1914), Rical-i İhtilal (The Men of the Revolution, 1913), Condorcet, Saint-Just, Danton, Robespierre (Condorcet, Saint-Just, Danton, Robespierre, 1913), İlm-i Ahlâk (The Science of Morals, textbook, 1914), Tarih-i Siyasî (Political History, 1918), Raşid Müverrih mi Şair mi (Is Raşid an Historian or a Poet? 1919).
REFERENCE: Ali Kemal / Ömrüm (Peyam-ı Edebi, İstanbul. 1913-1914), Ahmed Bedevi Kuran / İnkılâp Tarihimiz ve Jön Türkler (1945), İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / Türk Meşhurları (1946), Hüseyin Câhid / Kavgalarım (s. 35-92, 1326), Yahya Kemal / Portreler (İstanbul, 1968), Hilmi Ziya Ülken / Türkiye'de Çağdaş Düşünce Tarihi (1979), M. Şükrü Hanioğlu / Bir Siyasal Örgüt Olarak Osmanlı İttihad ve Terakkî Cemiyeti ve Jön Türklük 1889-1902 (1985), Ali Kemal / Ömrüm (yay. Zeki Kuneralp, 1985), Rahmi Apak / Yetmişlik Bir Subay'ın Hatıraları (1988), Mustafa Uzun / TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (c. 2, s. 405-408), 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 Fikir ve Kültür Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 3, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
