İlhan Başgöz

Folklorist (b. 1923, Gemerek / Sivas). He graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Language and History-Geography, Department of Turkish Language and Literature (1945).  He worked as an assistant to Prof. P.N. Boratav in the same faculty from 1946 to 1950 and he participated in research organized by the Chair of Turkish Folklore and Folk Literature founded in 1948. Upon the closure of the chair, he worked as a teacher at Tokat High School until 1952.  He was put into prison for two years because of actions against article 141 of the Turkish Criminal Law; he was pardoned in 1953.

Going to America with a scholarship from the Ford Foundation in 1960, he became an instructor first at California University, then at Indiana University.  He became professor there (1975) and was elected as an honorable member of the Amerikan Folklore Society (1983). He gave Turkish Literature lectures at Boğaziçi and Indiana Universities for some time. He works at Bilkent University now. His articles have featured in the journals Dost, Yeni Ufuklar, Türk Dili, Milliyet-Sanat.  He received the Hacı Bektaş Veli Friendship and Peace Award by the Hacı Bektaş Municipality in 2000.

MAIN WORKS:

Doğu Anadolu'da Folklor Denemeleri (Folklore Examinations in Eastern Anatolia, 1947), Türk Halk Edebiyatı (Turkish Folk Literature, 1952), İzahlı Türk Edebiyatı Antolojisi (Anthology of Turkish Literature With Explanations, 1956), Manilerimizden (From Our Traditional Quatrains, 1957), Köroğlu (1959), Educational Problems of Turkey 1920-40 (with H. E. Wilson, 1967), Atatürk ve Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nde Eğitim (Atatürk and Education in the Republic of Turkey, 1968), Turkish Folklore (1971), Bilmece: A. Corpus of Turkish Riddles (with A. Tietre, 1973), Karacaoğlan (Karacaoğlan, 1978), Studies on Turkish in Folklore (with M. Glazer, anthology, 1978), Âşık Ali İzzet Özkan (The Bard Ali İzzet Özkan, 1979), Folklor Yazıları (Folklore Articles, 1986), Yunus Emre (Yunus Emre, 1990), Vay Başıma Gelenler (Woe Is Me, 1993), Türk Bilmeceleri I-II-III (Turkish Riddles I- II- III, 1993), Nasrettin Hoca (Nasrettin Hodja, in French, with P. N. Boratav, 2003).

REFERENCE: Seyit Kemal Karaalioğlu / Resimli Türk Edebiyatçıları Sözlüğü (1974), Yurt Ansiklopedisi VIII (1982-1983), Folklor-Edebiyat / İlhan Basgöz Özel Sayısı (sayı: 14, Haziran-Temmuz 1998), Behçet Necatigil / Edebiyatımızda İsimler Sözlüğü (18. bas. 1999), Prof. Dr. İlhan Başgöz’e Dostluk ve Barış Ödülü (Kanat dergisi, Güz 2000), Şükran Kurdakul / Şairler ve Yazarlar Sözlüğü (6. bas. 1999), P. Aka / İlhan Başgöz'le Halk Edebiyatı Üzerine (Kanat, s: 3 / Bahar 2000), Mehmet Ergün / İlhan Başgöz'den Kapsamlı Bir Araştırma: Türk Halkının Bilmeceleri (Cumhuriyet Kitap, (13 Temmuz 2000), 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 Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013), Tanzimat’tan Bugüne Edebiyatçılar Ansiklopedisi 1 (2001), Nazir Akalın / İlim Adamının Nasreddin Hocası (Şairin Eldivenleri, 2003), Uğur Soldan (Virgül, Mart 2003), Remzi Demir - Doğan Atılgan / DTCF ve Türkiye’de Beşerî Bilimlerin Yeniden İnşası: Elli Portre (2008), Prof. Dr. İlhan Başgöz, ambulans uçakla Türkiye’ye getirildi (hürriyet.com.tr, 05.01.2021).