Ahmet Mithat (1844 – 28 December 1912) was an Ottoman journalist, author, translator and publisher during the
Tanzimat
The Tanzimat (; ota, تنظيمات, translit=Tanzimāt, lit=Reorganization, ''see'' nizām) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 187 ...
period. In his works, he was known as Ahmet Mithat Efendi, to distinguish him from the contemporary politician
Midhat Pasha
Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha ( ota , احمد شفيق مدحت پاشا, 18 October 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman democrat, kingmaker and one of the leading statesmen during the late Tanzimat period. He is most famous for leading the O ...
. Ahmet Mithat Efendi took his name from Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha, as he worked for a time as an official and newspaper editor in Midhat Pasha's
Vilayet of the Danube.
Politically, his orientation was more conservative, compared to writers such as
Namık Kemal
Namık Kemal (21 December 1840 – 2 December 1888) was an Ottoman democrat, writer, intellectual, reformer, journalist, playwright, and political activist who was influential in the formation of the Young Ottomans and their struggle for go ...
. He was a prolific writer, more than 250 of his works have survived. From 1878 he published a newspaper entitled ''
Tercüman-ı Hakikat
''Tercüman-ı Hakikat'' ( en, Interpreter of Truth) was a daily newspaper published in Constantinople (today-Istanbul), Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * an ...
'' (Interpreter of Truth). Before that he was one of the contributors of ''
Basiret'', a newspaper published between 1870 and 1879.
His editorship and publication of
Olga Lebedeva's translations of Russian literature into Turkish served as an introduction of
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
,
Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...
and
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
to Turkey's readership.
In addition, he was a patron and teacher to
Fatma Aliye, one of the most famous female Ottoman authors.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''Hasan Mellâh yâhud Sır İçinde Esrar'' (1874)
* ''Dünyaya İkinci Geliş yâhut İstanbul’da Neler Olmuş'' (1875)
* ''Hüseyin Fellah'' (1875)
* ''Felâtun Bey ile Râkım Efendi'' (1875)
* ''Karı-Koca Masalı'' (1875)
* ''Paris'de Bir Türk'' (1876)
* ''Çengi'' (1877, oyun)
* ''Süleyman Musûlî'' (1877)
* ''Yeryüzünde Bir Melek'' (1879)
* ''Henüz On Yedi Yaşında'' (1881)
* ''Karnaval'' (1881)
* ''Amiral Bing'' (1881)
* ''Vah!'' (1882)
* ''Acâib-i Âlem'' (1882)
* ''Dürdâne Hanım'' (1882)
* ''Esrâr-ı Cinâyât'' (1884)
* ''Cellâd'' (1884)
* ''Volter Yirmi Yaşında'' (1884)
* ''Hayret'' (1885)
* ''Cinli Han'' (1885)
* ''Çingene'' (1886)
* ''Demir Bey yâhud İnkişâf-ı Esrâr'' (1887)
* ''Fennî Bir Roman Yâhud Amerika Doktorları'' (1888)
* ''Haydut Montari'' (1888)
* ''Arnavutlar-Solyotlar'' (1888)
* ''Gürcü Kızı yâhud İntikam'' (1888)
* ''Nedâmet mi? Heyhât'' (1889)
* ''Rikalda yâhut Amerika'da Vahşet Âlemi'' (1889)
* ''Aleksandr Stradella'' (1889)
* ''Şeytankaya Tılsımı'' (1889)
* ''Müşâhedât'' (1890)
* ''Ahmed Metin ve Şîrzât'' (1891)
* ''Bir Acîbe-i Saydiyye'' (1894)
* ''Taaffüf'' (1895)
* ''Gönüllü'' (1896)
* ''Eski Mektûblar'' (1897)
* ''Mesâil-i Muğlaka'' (1898)
* ''Altın Âşıkları'' (1899)
* ''Hikmet-i Peder'' (1900)
* ''Jön Türkler'' (1910)
Stories
* Kıssadan Hisse (1870)
* Letâif-i rivayat (Notes: The first story in Turkish literature.)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmet Mithat
1844 births
1912 deaths
19th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire
Turkish novelists