Poet and writer
(b. 23 June 1901, Şehzadebaşı / İstanbul - d. 24 January 1962). He used the pen
name Mızrakçıoğlu. After he completed his primary education in Vefa, Kerkük, Antalya, he studied at the Veterinary School
for a year. In 1923, he graduated from İstanbul University,
Faculty of Literature, which he had entered in 1919. His graduation thesis was
“Şeyhî’nin Hüsrev ve Şîrin’I” (Hüsrev and Şirin of Şeyhi). Among
his teachers were Cenap Şahabettin, Yahya Kemal, Necip Asım and Rıza Tevfik. He
worked as a literature teacher at high schools in Erzurum,
Konya, Ankara, Ankara Gazi Education Institute and İstanbul Kadıköy High School,
as aesthetics and mythology teacher at the Fine Arts Academy and as a
literature teacher at Üsküdar
American College
(1923-39). He was appointed as professor to the Turkish Language and Literature
Department at the Literature Faculty of İstanbul University (1939). He was
elected parliamentary deputy for Maraş in 1942. After 1946, he worked as an
inspector for the Ministry of National Education and as a teacher. He returned
to his previous job as professor at the Faculty of Literature, Department of
Turkish Literature (1949). He continued as professor of the Recent Turkish
Literature Department until his death. He died of a heart attack. His tomb is
near the tomb of his teacher and friend Yahya Kemal in Rumelihisarı. On his
tomb is written “Ne içindeyim zamanın /
Ne de büsbütün dışında” (Neither I
am in time, nor out of the time).
His first poems
were published in the journals Dergâh,
Millî Mecmua, Hayat, Görüş
beginning in 1921. His poems he wrote after 1932 were published in the
journals Varlık, Ağaç, Görüş, Oluş, Ülkü,
İstanbul etc. He compiled most of his poems in a book one year before his
death. He was known more for his novels and research of literature history than
his poems. In his stories and novels in which he gave great importance to
psychological analyses, he wrote about people who were always searching and the
chaos between westernization and traditional life. He satirized his time
through irony in his work Saatleri
Ayarlama Enstitüsü (Institute of Setting Watches).
WORKS:
SHORT STORY: Abdullah Efendi'nin
Rüyaları (Dreams of Abdullah Efendi, 1943), Yaz Yağmuru (Summer Rain, 1955).
NOVEL: Huzur (Presence, 1949), Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü (Institute
of Setting Watches, 1961), Sahnenin
Dışındakiler (Those Who Are Off the Stage, 1973), Mahur Beste (Mahur* Composition, 1975), Aynadaki Kadın (Woman in the Mirror, 1987).
REVIEW: Tevfik Fikret (Tevfik Fikret, 1937), Namık Kemal Antolojisi (Anthology of
Namık Kemal, 1942), 19. Asır Türk
Edebiyatı Tarihi I (19th Century History of Turkish Literature,
1949, general 2nd edition, 1956),
Yahya Kemal (Yahya Kemal, 1963),
Edebiyat Üzerine Makaleler (Articles on Literature, publication prepared by
Zeynep Kerman, 1969), Mücevherlerin Sırrı
(Secret of Jewelry; article, interview and answers of questionnaires
published in newspapers but not published in a book, 1928 and 1960; publication
prepared by İlyas Dirin, Turgay Anar, Şaban Özdemir, 2001).
ESSAY: Beş Şehir (Five Cities, 1946), Yaşadığım Gibi (As I Live, 1970).
LETTER: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar'ın Mektupları (Letters
of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, by Zeynep Kerman, 1974), Tanpınar’dan Hasan–Âli Yücel’e Mektuplar (Letters
from Tanpınar to Ali Yücel, prepared by C. Y. Eronat, 1997).
POETRY: Şiirler (Poems, 1961), Bütün Şiirler (All Poems, 1989), Seçmeler (Selections, by Enis Batur,
1992).
New publications
of his works were made by Dergâh Publishing House.
REFERENCE: Tahir Alangu / Cumhuriyetten Sonra
Hikâye ve Roman (c. 3, 1965), Orhan Okay / Bir Monografi Denemesi I-VIII
(Dergâh, sayı: 25-33, 1992), Mehmet Behçet Yazar / Edebiyatçılar
Alemi-Edebiyatımızın Unutulan Simaları (yay. haz. Mustafa Everdi, 1999),
Mücevherlerin Sırrı-Derlenmemiş Yazılar Anket ve Röportajlar / Ahmet Hamdi
Tanpınar / Hazırlayanlar: İlyas Dirin, Turgay Anar, Şaban Özdemir / (Cumhuriyet
Kitap, 31.1.2002), Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Özel Sayısı (Hece, sayı: 61, Ocak 2002;
İçinde bibliyografya), Beşir Ayvazoğlu / Tanpınar ve Siyaset (Zaman,
10.3.2002), 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 Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4,
2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
