Hıdır Gürel (1920 – 5 November 1976), better known by his pen name Âşık İbretî, was a Turkish

ashik An ashik (; ) or ashugh (; ka, :ka:აშუღი, აშუღი) is traditionally a List of oral repositories, singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as ''Azeri hikaye, hikaye' ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. His pen name means "the Exemplary Ashik". His poems were written in the tradition of Turkish Alevi folk poetry. Âşık İbretî composed poetry about politics, Islam, Sufism and love. Âşık Mahzuni Şerif mentioned him as "a progressive and revolutionary ministrel".

Biography

Hıdır Gürel was born in Kırkısrak village of

Sarız Sarız, formerly known as Sáros (Greek: Σάρος), is a municipality and district of Kayseri Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,173 km2, and its population is 9,282 (2022). The mayor is Baki Bayrak ( MHP). History The history of the distric ...

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

in 1920 to Ali and Sultan. His ancestry had emigrated from Akçadağ village of

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

. His mother died when he was 3 years old and his father was married to another woman. He started working with a shoemaker. He was married to his aunt's daughter, his cousin Sultan when he was 18 years old. After military service, he went to

Afşin Afşin is a municipality and district of Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,502 km2, and its population is 80,044 (2022). It is the location of the ancient town Arabissus. Afşin-Elbistan power stations Two coal fired power ...

Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş (), historically Marash (; ) and Germanicea (), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was ...

and learned tailoring in a short time. He returned to his hometown Sarız as a tailor. Because of this he is also known as Terzi Hıdır ("Hıdır the Tailor"). In this period, he began playing

bağlama The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Khazar, Central Asia including Germany, France, Belgium, TRNC, Netherlands, Albania, Greece,Bosnia, Serbia, Croat ...

and writing

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. Other than shoemaking and tailoring, he dealt with many jobs like mining, musical instrument making and amateur dentistry. He went to

Elbistan Elbistan (;Aksüt, Ali"''On the Alevism of Elbistan, Nurhak, Ekinozu and Afsin - Elbistan Nurhak Ekinözü Afşin Aleviliği Üzerine - Zum Alevitentum in Elbistan, Nurhak, Ekinözü und Afşin''"- Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştırmaları Dergisi 201 ...

, Kahramanmaraş and started working as a photographer but he couldn't adapt to the city and returned to his hometown. He became famous with his poetry and went to Istanbul. He died on 5 November 1976 in Istanbul. He had two daughters (Sultan, Gülbeyaz) and four sons (Haydar, Hüseyin, Hıdır, and Kemal). Hıdır died at the age of 34 in 1992. His wife Sultan died in February 2000, his eldest son Haydar in November 2001, his oldest daughter Sultan in December 2006 and his son Kemal on March 24, 2014. His son Hüseyin lives in Balikesir, Turkey, while his daughter Gülbeyaz is living in London, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibreti, Asik 1920 births 1976 deaths People from Kayseri Turkish folk poets Turkish Alevis Alevi folk poets 20th-century Turkish male singers Date of birth unknown 20th-century Turkish poets Alevi singers

Biography

See also

References