Storywriter and novelist (b. 19 March
1883, Çorlu / Tekirdağ - d. 16 May 1952, Ankara). He used the pen names MŞ,
MŞE, Mustafa Memduh, Mustafa Yalınkat, M. Oğulcuk, İstemenoğlu. He graduated
from Edirne High School. He became an active member of the Party of Union and
Progress in 1906. He served as party inspector in 1908. As first foreign
representative of the Turkish Grand National Assembly after establishment, he
served as ambassador in Baku and Tehran (1925-1930) and Kabul (11 June 1933-31
October 1941). After working as history and geography teacher in Kabataş and
Galatasaray High Schools for one year, he published the newspapers Halk and Meslek (1925-26). He again undertook post in the Foreign Affairs
and worked as ordinary ambassador in Iran (1926-30). Then the tasks of deputy
and diplomat continued. He worked as deputy of Elazığ (1930-32) and Bilecik
(1932-38) and as ambassador in Afghanistan and Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (1932-38). He served as general secretary of the Republican People’s
Party between 1941 and 1950.
Esendal, who was against the multiparty
system, served as consultant to Atatürk and joined his journeys after the case
of Liberal Party. After applying of multiparty system, he gave up the politics.
He was accepted himself with his short stories and novels in which he wrote plainly the ordinary lives
of simple people. Ayaşlı ve Kiracıları
(Ayaşlı and His Tenants, 1936), which receives degree in Republican Peoples
Party Novel Awards in 1945 and became TV serial in 1989, was his most famous
work. Some of his short stories not being published when he was alive, were
collected and published by Muzaffer Uyguner (1983-88)
WORKS:
SHORT STORY: Hikâyeler-1 (Short Stories – I, under
the title Otlakçı (Sponger) in 1946, under the title Temiz Sevgiler
(Pure Loves) in 1958), Hikâyeler-2 (Short
Stories II, 1946, under the title Mendil Altında (Under the Handkerchief) 1958,
under the title Ev Ona Yakıştı (House Looked Good on Her, 1971), Sahan Külbastısı (Cutlet on Plate,
1983), Veysel Çavuş (Sergeant Veysel,
1984), Bir Kucak Çiçek (A Hug of
Flowers, 1984), İhtiyar Çilingir (Old
Locksmith, 1984), Hava Parası (Key
Money, 1984), Bizim Nesibe (Our
Nesibe, 1984), Kelepir (Dirt Cheap,
1986), Gödeli Mehmet (Gödeli Mehmet,
1986), Güllüce Bağları Yolunda (On
the Road of Güllüce Vineyard, 1992), Gönül
Kaçanı Kovalar (Heart Follows the Escapee, 1993), Mutlu
Bir Son (A Happy End, 2005).
MEMOIR: Tahran Günlüğü (Journal of Tehran, 1998, with the title Tahran
Anıları ve Düşsel Yazılar (Tehran Memoirs and Imaginary Writings, 1999).
NOVEL: Miras (Heritage, 1925), Ayaşlı
ve Kiracıları (Ayaşlı and His Tenants, 1934), Vassaf Bey (Vassaf Bey, 1983, not completed).
LETTER: Kızıma Mektuplar (Letters to My Daughter, edited by Muzaffer
Uyguner, 2001), Oğullarıma Mektuplar (Letters to My Sons, 2003).
New editions of his books were
published by Dost and Bilgi Publishing Houses. Those which were edited by
Muzaffer Uyguner and published by Bilgi Publishing House: Collected Works: Ayaşlı ile Kiracıları (Ayaşlı and His
Tenants, novel, 1998), Vassaf Bey
(Vassaf Bey, novel, 1999), Otlakçı
(Sponger, short story, 1995), Mendil
Altında (Under the Handkerchief, short story, 1998), Sahan Külbastısı (Cutlet on Plate, short story, 1999), Veysel Çavuş (Sergeant Veysel, short
story, 1996), Bir Kucak Çiçek (A Hug of Flowers, short story,
1999), İhtiyar Çilingir (Old
Locksmith, short story, 1997), Hava
Parası (Key Money, 1997), Bizim
Nesibe (Our Nesibe, short story, 1998), Kelepir
(Dirt Cheap, short story, 1999), Gödeli
Mehmet (Gödeli Mehmet, short story,1986), Miras (Heritage, novel, 1988), Güllüce
Bağları Yolunda (On the Road of Güllüce Vineyard, short story, 1992), Gönül Kaçanı Kovalar (Heart Follows the
Escapee, short story, 1993), Tahran
Anıları ve Düşsel Yazılar (Tehran Memoirs and Imaginary Writings,
memoir-letter, 1999).