Poet and
writer (b. İstanbul, 1885 – d. 30 March 1956). He received primary and
secondary education at Osmani School. After going to Saint Joseph High School
for some time, he graduated from Vefa Preparatory School and the Law School. He
did his doctorate in 1908. He worked in organizations connected to the Ministry
of Justice. When he was the Public
Notary at the Beyoğlu 4th office in İstanbul, he died from lung
cancer. He is buried in Karacaahmet cemetery.
He was known
for his nationalistic approach in his writing after the Second Constitutional
Monarchy. The poems of Mitat Cemal who wrote in prosodic verse, were published
in the journals Güneş (1927) and Çınaraltı (1943-44). He also wrote short anecdotes and articles in
Son Posta. His only novel, Üç
İstanbul (Three İstanbuls) in which he discussed Abdülhamit II, the
Constitutional Monarchy and the years of war, became his most famous book. (It was made into a TV series in
1984)
WORKS:
NOVEL: Üç İstanbul (Three İstanbuls, 1938).
POETRY: Türkün Şehnâmesinden (From the Epic of the Turks, 1944, with an
introduction by F. K. Timurtaş, 1971)
BIOGRAPHY: Mehmet Akif Hayatı Seciyesi
Sanatı (The Life, Character and Art of Mehmet Akif, 1939), İstiklâl Şairi Mehmet Akif (Mehmet Akif,
the Poet of National Song, for the 6th anniversary of his death,
1944), Namık Kemal (Namık Kemal, 2 books, 1944-59), Sarıklı
İhtilalci Ali Süavi (Ali Süavi, Revolutionist with a Sarık*,
1946).
PLAY: Kemal (Kemal, play in verse, 1912), Yirmi Sekiz Kanun-ı Evvel (Twenty Eight Laws from the Past, a
3-act play related to Canakkale, 1918).
OTHERS: Nefais-i Edebiyye (Literary Bodies, anthology, 2 books, 1913), İftira-yı Taassub (The Slander of
Bigotry, 1913), Hitabet ve Münazara
Dersleri (Lessons on Oratory and Debate, 1913), Hitabet Dersleri (Lessons on Oratory, 1914), Edebiyat Defteri (Literature Notebook, course book, 1915), İlkler ve Ötekiler (The Firsts and the
Rest, 1944).