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Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over thirteen million books in sixty-three languages, making him the country's best-selling writer. Pamuk is the author of novels including '' Silent House'', '' The White Castle'', '' The Black Book'', '' The New Life'', '' My Name Is Red'', ''
Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...
'', '' The Museum of Innocence'', '' A Strangeness in My Mind'' and '' The Red-Haired Woman''. He is the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he teaches
writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
and comparative literature. He was elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 2018. Of partial Circassian descent and born in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
, Pamuk is the first Turkish Nobel laureate. He is also the recipient of numerous other literary awards. ''My Name Is Red'' won the 2002 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, 2002
Premio Grinzane Cavour The Grinzane Cavour Prize (1989–2009) was an Italian literary award established in 1982 by Francesco Meotto. The annual award ceremony took place in the medieval castle of Grinzane Cavour. The goal of the prize was to attract young people to re ...
and 2003 International Dublin Literary Award. The European Writers' Parliament came about as a result of a joint proposal by Pamuk and
José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE ComSE GColCa (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which hecon ...
. Pamuk's willingness to write books about contentious historical and political events put him at risk of censure in his homeland. In 2005, a lawyer sued him over a statement regarding the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
. His intention, according to Pamuk himself, had been to highlight issues relating to
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
in the country of his birth. The court initially declined to hear the case, but in 2011 Pamuk was ordered to pay 6,000 liras in total compensation for having insulted the plaintiffs' honor.


Early life

Pamuk was born in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
, in 1952, and he grew up in a wealthy yet declining upper-class family; an experience he describes in passing in his novels '' The Black Book'' and ''Cevdet Bey and His Sons'', as well as more thoroughly in his personal memoir ''Istanbul: Memories and the City''. Pamuk's paternal grandmother was Circassian. He was educated at
Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a highly selective, independent, co-educational high school in Turkey.The Turkish education system divides schools ...
secondary school in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
and went on to study architecture at the Istanbul Technical University since it was related to his real dream career, painting. He left the architecture school after three years, however, to become a full-time writer, and graduated from the Institute of
Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...
at the University of Istanbul in 1976. From ages 22 to 30, Pamuk lived with his mother, writing his first novel and attempting to find a publisher. He describes himself as a
Cultural Muslim Cultural Muslims are religiously non-practicing individuals who still identify with Islam due to family backgrounds, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up. Definition In Central Asia and in former co ...
who associates the historical and cultural identification with the religion while not believing in a personal connection to God.


Work

He started writing regularly in 1974. His first novel, ''Karanlık ve Işık'' (''Darkness and Light'') was a co-winner of the 1979 Milliyet Press Novel Contest ( Mehmet Eroğlu was the other winner). This novel was published with the title ''Cevdet Bey ve Oğulları'' (''Mr. Cevdet and His Sons'') in 1982, and won the Orhan Kemal Novel Prize in 1983. It tells the story of three generations of a wealthy Istanbul family living in
Nişantaşı Nişantaşı is an upmarket, largely secular residential neighbourhood in the Şişli district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. Separated from Osmanbey and Pangaltı to the west by busy Halaskargazi Caddesi, it is a popular shopping ...
, the district of Istanbul where Pamuk grew up. Pamuk won a number of critical prizes for his early work, including the 1984 Madarali Novel Prize for his second novel ''Sessiz Ev'' ('' Silent House'') and the 1991 Prix de la Découverte Européenne for the French translation of this novel. His historical novel ''Beyaz Kale'' (''The White Castle''), published in Turkish in 1985, won the 1990 Independent Award for Foreign Fiction and extended his reputation abroad. On 19 May 1991, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' Book Review stated, ''"A new star has risen in the east—Orhan Pamuk."'' He started experimenting with postmodern techniques in his novels, a change from the strict naturalism of his early works. Popular success took a bit longer to come to Pamuk, but his 1990 novel ''Kara Kitap'' ('' The Black Book'') became one of the most controversial and popular books in Turkish literature, due to its complexity and richness. In 1992, he wrote the screenplay for the movie ''Gizli Yüz'' (''Secret Face''), based on ''Kara Kitap'' and directed by a prominent Turkish director,
Ömer Kavur Ömer Kavur (18 June 1944 – 12 May 2005) was a Turkish film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed fourteen films between 1974 and 2003. His film, '' Gece Yolculuğu'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Ca ...
. Pamuk's fifth novel ''Yeni Hayat'' (''New Life'') caused a sensation in Turkey upon its 1994 publication and became the fastest-selling book in Turkish history. By this time, Pamuk had also become a high-profile figure in Turkey, due to his support for Kurdish political rights. In 1995, Pamuk was among a group of authors tried for writing essays that criticized Turkey's treatment of the Kurds. In 1999, Pamuk published his book of essays ''Öteki Renkler'' (''Other Colors''). In 2019, the 66-year-old Nobel Laureate held an exhibition of his photographs of Istanbul taken from his own balcony, named "Balkon: Photos by Orhan Pamuk". The exhibition captured the "subtle and ever-changing view of Istanbul" photographed by Pamuk from his balcony using a telephoto lens. Curated by Gerhard Steidl, the German publisher of his photo book ''Balkon'', the exhibition ran for three months at the Yapı Kredi Culture and Arts building on Istanbul's teeming Istiklal Street. It featured more than 600 colour photos selected from over 8,500 taken by Pamuk over a five-month period in late 2012 and early 2013, in what was described by the gallery as "a period of intense creativity".


''My Name Is Red''

Pamuk's international reputation continued to increase when he published ''Benim Adım Kırmızı'' ('' My Name is Red'') in 1998. The novel blends mystery, romance, and philosophical puzzles in a setting of 16th century Istanbul. It opens a window into the reign of Ottoman
Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
Murat III in nine snowy winter days of 1591, inviting the reader to experience the tension between East and West from a breathlessly urgent perspective. ''My Name Is Red'' has been translated into 24 languages and in 2003 won the International Dublin Literary Award, one of the world's most lucrative literary prizes. Asked what impact winning this last award (currently $127,000) had on his life and work, Pamuk replied:
Nothing changed in my life since I work all the time. I've spent 30 years writing fiction. For the first 10 years, I worried about money and no one asked how much money I made. The second decade I spent money and no one was asking about that. And I've spent the last 10 years with everyone expecting to hear how I spend the money, which I will not do.


''Snow''

Pamuk followed this with the novel ''Kar'', published in 2002 (English translation: ''
Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...
'', 2004). Set in the border city of
Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography (Strabo), part of ...
, it explores the conflict between Islamism and Westernism in modern Turkey. Snow follows Ka, an expatriate Turkish poet, as he wanders around the snowy
Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography (Strabo), part of ...
and gets caught up in the muddle of aimless Islamists, MPs, headscarf advocates, secularists, and a number of factions who die and kill in the name of highly contradictory ideals. ''The New York Times'' listed ''Snow'' as one of its Ten Best Books of 2004. In conversation with Carol Becker in the Brooklyn Rail about creating sympathetic characters in the political novel, Pamuk said:
I strongly feel that the art of the novel is based on the human capacity, though it’s a limited capacity, to be able to identify with "the other". Only human beings can do this. It requires imagination, a sort of morality, a self-imposed goal of understanding this person who is different from us, which is a rarity.


''The Museum of Innocence''

In May 2007, Pamuk was among the jury members at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
headed by British director Stephen Frears. He completed his next novel, ''Masumiyet Müzesi'' ('' The Museum of Innocence'') in the summer of 2008 - the first novel he published after receiving the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. Pamuk created an actual Museum of Innocence, consisting of everyday objects tied to the narrative, and housed them at an
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
house he purchased. Pamuk collaborated on a documentary "The Innocence of Memories" that expanded on his Museum of Innocence. Pamuk stated that "(Museum of Dreams will) tell a different version of the love story set in Istanbul through objects and Grant Gee’s wonderful new film". In both ''Snow'' and the ''Museum of Innocence'' Pamuk describes tragic love-stories, where men fall in love with beautiful women at first sight. Pamuk's heroes tend to be educated men who fall tragically in love with beauties, but who seem doomed to a decrepit loneliness. In 2013, Pamuk invited
Grazia Toderi Grazia Toderi is an Italian artist working primarily in the medium of video art. Born in Padua, and trained in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bologna, Toderi began working in the medium of media and video art in the 1990s. Currently work ...
, whose work he admired, to design a work for the Museum of Innocence in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
. Their collaboration culminated in the exhibition ''Words and Stars''. ''Words and Stars'' opened on 2 April 2017, at the MART (Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto), and which explores "the inclination of man to explore space and innate vocation to question the stars." The show was curated by Gianfranco Maraniello. It also showed from 4 November 2016 to 29 March 2017 from 5–6 November 2016 at the Palazzo Madama, Piazza Castello,
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, and at ''Infini-to, the Planetarium of Turin (Infini.to - Planetario di Torino, Museo dell'Astronomia e dello Spazio)'' by invitation.


''The Red-Haired Woman''

Pamuk's tenth novel, ''The Red-Haired Woman'' (2016) is the story of a well-digger and his apprentice looking for water on barren land. It is also a novel of ideas in the tradition of the French ''
conte philosophique Conte may refer to: * Conte (literature), a literary genre * Conte (surname) * Conté, a drawing medium * Conte, Jura, town in France * Conté royal family, a fictional family in Tamora Pierce's Tortallan world * Conte, the title of Count in Italy ...
''. In mid-1980s Istanbul, Master Mahmut and his apprentice use ancient methods to dig new wells; this is the tale of their back-breaking struggle, but it is also an exploration—through stories and images—of ideas about fathers and sons, authoritarianism and individuality, state and freedom, reading and seeing. This short, compelling novel is at once a realist text investigating a murder which took place thirty years ago near Istanbul, and a fictional inquiry into the literary foundations of civilizations, comparing two fundamental myths of the West and the East respectively:
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
's ''
Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
'' (a story of patricide) and
Ferdowsi , image = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus, Iran 3 (cropped).jpg , image_size = , caption = Statue of Ferdowsi in Tus by Abolhassan Sadighi , birth_date = 940 , birth_place = Tus, Samanid Empire , death_date = 1019 or 1025 (87 years old) , d ...
's tale of '' Rostam and Sohrab'' (a story of filicide). Throughout runs the demonic voice of the
eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...
ous red-haired woman.


Non-fiction

Pamuk published a memoir/travelogue ''Istanbul—Hatıralar ve Şehir'' in 2003 (English version, ''Istanbul—Memories and the City'', 2005). Pamuk's ''Other Colours'' – a collection of non-fiction and a story — was published in the UK in September 2007. Asked how personal his book ''Istanbul: Memories and the City'' was, Pamuk replied:
I thought I would write ''Memories and the City'' in six months, but it took me one year to complete. And I was working twelve hours a day, just reading and working. My life, because of so many things, was in a crisis; I don’t want to go into those details: divorce, father dying, professional problems, problems with this, problems with that, everything was bad. I thought if I were to be weak I would have a depression. But every day I would wake up and have a cold shower and sit down and remember and write, always paying attention to the beauty of the book. Honestly, I may have hurt my mother, my family. My father was dead, but my mother is still alive. But I can’t care about that; I must care about the beauty of the book.


Style

Pamuk's books are characterized by a confusion or loss of identity brought on in part by the conflict between Western and Eastern values. They are often disturbing or unsettling, and include complex plots and characters. His works are also redolent with discussion of and fascination with the creative arts, such as literature and painting. Pamuk's work often touches on the deep-rooted tensions between East and West and tradition and modernism/secularism. Pamuk speaks about "the angel of inspiration" when he discusses his creativity:
"I am just listening to an inner music, the mystery of which I don't completely know. And I don't want to know." "I am most surprised by those moments when I have felt as if the sentences, dreams, and pages that have made me so ecstatically happy have not come from my own imagination – that another power has found them and generously presented them to me."
A group of writers assert that some parts of Pamuk's works are heavily influenced by works of other writers, and some chapters are almost totally quoted from other books. Pamuk himself said that his works have been inspired by the writings of rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. One of the writers, nationalist popular-historian
Murat Bardakçı Murat Gökhan Bardakçı (born 25 December 1955) is a Turkish journalist working on Ottoman history and Turkish music history. He is also a columnist for ''Habertürk'' newspaper. Biography Bardakçı was born in 1955 in İstanbul. An economist ...
, accused him of counterfeiting and plagiarism in the ''Hurriyet'', a Turkish newspaper. Another accusation is that Pamuk's novel ''The White Castle'' contains exact paragraphs from Fuad Carim's ''Kanuni Devrinde İstanbul'' ("Istanbul in the Time of the Kanuni") novel. After a question raised at the 2009
Boston Book Festival The Boston Book Festival is an independent nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the name of its main event. The nonprofit was founded in 2009 by Deborah Z Porter, and aims to "celebrate the power of words to stimulate, agitate, ...
as to whether he wanted to respond to these accusations, Pamuk responded, "No I do not. Next question?". However, many attributed such accusations to their ignorance about postmodern literature, and the literary technique of intertextuality which Pamuk almost always uses in his novels in full disclosure.


Personal life

Pamuk's elder brother
Şevket Pamuk Şevket Pamuk is chair of contemporary Turkish studies at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Professor of Economics and Economic History at Boğaziçi (Bosphorus) University. He is a leading economic ...
, who sometimes appears as a fictional character in Orhan Pamuk's works, is a professor of economics, internationally recognised for his work in
economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and i ...
of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, working at
Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and t ...
in Istanbul. Pamuk also has a younger half-sister Hümeyra Pamuk, who is a journalist. On 1 March 1982, Pamuk married historian Aylin Türegün. From 1985 to 1988, while his wife was a graduate student at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Pamuk assumed the position of visiting scholar there, using the time to conduct research and write his novel ''The Black Book'' at the university's
Butler Library Butler Library is located on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University at 535 West 114th Street, in Manhattan, New York City. It is the university's largest single library with over 2 million volumes, as well as one of the larges ...
. This period also included a visiting fellowship at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...
. Pamuk returned to Istanbul, a city to which he is strongly attached. He and his wife had a daughter named Rüya (born 1991), whose name means "dream" in Turkish. In 2001, they were divorced. In 2006, Pamuk returned to the U.S. to take a position as a visiting professor at Columbia, where he was a Fellow with Columbia's Committee on Global Thought and held an appointment in Columbia's Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department and at its School of the Arts. In the 2007–2008 academic year Pamuk returned to Columbia to jointly teach comparative literature classes with Andreas Huyssen and David Damrosch. Pamuk was also a writer-in-residence at Bard College. In autumn 2009, Pamuk was
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
's Charles Eliot Norton Lecturer, delivering a series of lectures entitled "The Naive and Sentimental Novelist". Orhan publicly acknowledged his relationship with
Kiran Desai Kiran Desai (born 3 September 1971) is an Indian author. Her novel ''The Inheritance of Loss'' won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award. In January 2015, The Economic Times listed her as one of 20 "mo ...
, Booker prize winner of Indian origin. In January 2011, Turkish-Armenian artist Karolin Fişekçi told ''
Hürriyet Daily News The ''Hürriyet Daily News'', formerly ''Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review'' and ''Turkish Daily News'', is the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey, founded in 1961. The paper was bought by the Doğan Media Group in 2001 and ...
'' that Pamuk had a two-and-a-half-year relationship with her during the same time (2010–12), a statement expressly denied by Pamuk. Since 2011 he has been in a relationship with Aslı Akyavaş.


Trial

In 2005, after Pamuk made a statement regarding the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
and mass killings of
Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
, a criminal case was opened against the author based on a complaint filed by lawyer
Kemal Kerinçsiz Kemal Kerinçsiz (born February 20, 1960 in Edirne, Turkey) is a Turkish nationalist lawyer, famous for filing complaints against more than 40 Turkish journalists and authors (including Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak, and the late Hrant Dink) for "insu ...
. The charges were dropped on 22 January 2006. In
Bilecik Bilecik is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bilecik Province which is located in northwestern Anatolia. As of 2015 urban population of the city is 64,531. The mayor is Semih Şahin ( CHP). The town is famous for its numerous restored Turk ...
, his books were burned in a nationalist rally. Pamuk has subsequently stated his intent was to draw attention to
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
issues. However, Kemal Kerinçsiz, the lawyer who had originally pressed charges against Pamuk, appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal which ordered the court in Şişli to re-open the case. On 27 March 2011, Pamuk was found guilty and ordered to pay 6,000 liras in total compensation to five people for, among others, having insulted their honor.


Pamuk's statements

The criminal charges against Pamuk resulted from remarks he made during an interview in February 2005 with the Swiss publication '' Das Magazin'', a weekly supplement to a number of Swiss daily newspapers: the ''
Tages-Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und ...
'', the '' Basler Zeitung'', the '' Berner Zeitung'' and the '' Solothurner Tagblatt.'' In the interview, Pamuk stated, "Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here, and a million Armenians. And almost nobody dares to mention that. So I do." Turkish historians were divided over the remarks. Pamuk stated that he was consequently subjected to a hate campaign that forced him to flee the country. He returned later in 2005, however, to face the charges against him. In an interview with ''BBC News'', he said that he wanted to defend
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
, which was Turkey's only hope for coming to terms with its history: "What happened to the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 was a major thing that was hidden from the Turkish nation; it was a taboo. But we have to be able to talk about the past." However, when Turkish television, CNN TURK asked Pamuk about his speech, he admitted that he said that "Armenians were killed" but he rejected that he said "Turks killed Armenians" and he estimated the number of deaths (as 1 million) in that speech.


Prosecution

At the time, Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code stated: "A person who publicly insults the Republic or Turkish Grand National Assembly, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months to three years." Pamuk was charged with violating this law in the interview. In October, after the prosecution had begun, Pamuk reiterated his views in a speech given during an award ceremony in Germany: "I repeat, I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey." Article 301's old form before 2005 (and also the new form after the amendments in 2008) required that prosecution under the article needs to be approved by the Ministry of Justice. A few minutes after Pamuk's trial started on 16 December, the judge found that this approval had not yet been received and suspended the proceedings. In an interview published in the ''Akşam'' newspaper the same day, the then Justice Minister
Cemil Çiçek Cemil Çiçek (; born 15 November 1946) is a Turkish politician who was the Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey between 4 July 2011 and 7 June 2015. Previously he was Minister of Justice from 2002 to 2007 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to ...
said he had not yet received Pamuk's file but would study it thoroughly once it came. On 29 December 2005, Turkish state prosecutors dropped the charge that Pamuk insulted Turkey's armed forces, although the charge of "insulting Turkishness" remained.


International reaction

The charges against Pamuk caused an international outcry and led to questions in some circles about Turkey's proposed entry into the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
. On 30 November, the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
announced that it would send a delegation of five MEPs led by
Camiel Eurlings Camiel Martinus Petrus Stephanus Eurlings (; born 16 September 1973) is a Dutch politician and businessman. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he served as Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management from 2007 to 20 ...
, to observe the trial. EU Enlargement Commissioner
Olli Rehn Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargeme ...
subsequently stated that the Pamuk case would be a "
litmus test Litmus test may refer to: * Litmus test (chemistry), used to determine the acidity of a chemical solution * Litmus test (politics), a question that seeks to find the character of a potential candidate by measuring a single indicator * Litmus Test ...
" of Turkey's commitment to the EU's membership criteria. On 1 December,
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
released a statement calling for Article 301 to be repealed and for Pamuk and six other people awaiting trial under the act to be freed. PEN American Center also denounced the charges against Pamuk, stating: "PEN finds it extraordinary that a state that has ratified both the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, fre ...
, and the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...
, both of which see freedom of expression as central, should have a Penal Code that includes a clause that is so clearly contrary to these very same principles." On 13 December, eight world-renowned authors—
José Saramago José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE ComSE GColCa (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010), was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which hecon ...
, Gabriel García Márquez,
Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of D ...
, Umberto Eco, Carlos Fuentes,
Juan Goytisolo Juan Goytisolo Gay (6 January 1931 – 4 June 2017) was a Spanish poet, essayist, and novelist. He lived in Marrakesh from 1997 until his death in 2017. He was considered Spain's greatest living writer at the beginning of the 21st century, yet ...
,
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
and
Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
—issued a joint statement supporting Pamuk and decrying the charges against him as a violation of
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
. In 2008, in an open online poll, Pamuk was voted as the fourth most intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by '' Prospect Magazine'' (United Kingdom) and ''
Foreign Policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...
'' (United States).


Charges dropped

On 22 January 2006, Turkey's Justice Ministry refused to issue an approval of the prosecution, saying that they had no authority to open a case against Pamuk under the new penal code. With the trial in the local court, it was ruled the next day that the case could not continue without Justice Ministry approval. Pamuk's lawyer, Haluk İnanıcı, subsequently confirmed that charges had been dropped. The announcement occurred in a week when the EU was scheduled to begin a review of the Turkish justice system.


Interplay

EU enlargement commissioner
Olli Rehn Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargeme ...
welcomed the dropping of charges, saying "This is obviously good news for Mr. Pamuk, but it's also good news for freedom of expression in Turkey". However, some EU representatives expressed disappointment that the justice ministry had rejected the prosecution on a technicality rather than on principle. An Ankara-based EU diplomat reportedly said, "It is good the case has apparently been dropped, but the justice ministry never took a clear position or gave any sign of trying to defend Pamuk". Meanwhile, the lawyer who had led the effort to try Pamuk, Kemal Kerinçsiz, said he would appeal the decision, saying, "Orhan Pamuk must be punished for insulting Turkey and Turkishness, it is a grave crime and it should not be left unpunished." In 2006, the magazine ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' listed Pamuk in the cover article "TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World", in the category "Heroes & Pioneers", for speaking up. In April 2006, on the BBC's '' HARDtalk'' program, Pamuk stated that his remarks regarding the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
were meant to draw attention to freedom of expression issues in Turkey rather than to the massacres themselves. On 19–20 December 2006, a symposium on ''Orhan Pamuk and His Work'' was held at Sabancı University, Istanbul. Pamuk himself gave the closing address. In January 2008, 13 ultranationalists, including Kemal Kerinçsiz, were arrested by Turkish authorities for participating in a Turkish nationalist underground organisation, named '' Ergenekon'', allegedly conspiring to assassinate political figures, including several Christian missionaries and Armenian intellectual Hrant Dink. Several reports suggest that Pamuk was among the figures this group plotted to kill. The police informed Pamuk about the assassination plans eight months before the Ergenekon investigation.


Awards and honours

* 1979 Milliyet Press Novel Contest Award (Turkey) for his novel ''Karanlık ve Işık'' (co-winner) * 1983 Orhan Kemal Novel Prize (Turkey) for his novel ''Cevdet Bey ve Oğulları'' * 1984 Madarali Novel Prize (Turkey) for his novel ''Sessiz Ev'' * 1990 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (United Kingdom) for his novel ''Beyaz Kale'' * 1991 Prix de la Découverte Européenne (France) for the French edition of ''Sessiz Ev'' : ''La Maison de Silence'' * 1991 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (Turkey) Best Original Screenplay ''Gizli Yüz'' * 1995 Prix France Culture (France) for his novel ''Kara Kitap'': ''Le Livre Noir'' * 2002
Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who al ...
(France) for his novel ''My Name Is Red'': ''Mon Nom est Rouge'' * 2002
Premio Grinzane Cavour The Grinzane Cavour Prize (1989–2009) was an Italian literary award established in 1982 by Francesco Meotto. The annual award ceremony took place in the medieval castle of Grinzane Cavour. The goal of the prize was to attract young people to re ...
(Italy) for his novel ''My Name Is Red'' * 2003 International Dublin Literary Award (Ireland) for his novel ''My Name Is Red'' (awarded jointly with translator Erdağ M. Göknar) * 2005
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...
(Germany) * 2005 Prix Médicis étranger (France) for his novel ''Snow'': ''La Neige'' * 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature (Sweden) * 2006 Washington University's Distinguished Humanist Award (United States) * 2006
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
(France) * 2008 Ovidius Prize (Romania) * 2010 Norman Mailer Prize, Lifetime Achievement (USA) * 2012 Sonning Prize (Denmark) * 2012
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
Officier (France) * 2014 The Mary Lynn Kotz Award (USA) for his book "The Innocence of Objects" * 2014 Tabernakul Prize (Macedonia) * 2014 European Museum of the Year Award (Estonia) * 2014 Helena Vaz da Silva European Award for Public Awareness on Cultural Heritage (Portugal) * 2015 Erdal Öz Prize (Turkey), for his novel ''A Strangeness in My Mind'' * 2015 Aydın Doğan Foundation Award (Turkey), for his novel ''A Strangeness in My Mind'' * 2016 The Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award ("Foreign Literature" category, Russia) for his novel ''A Strangeness in My Mind'' * 2016 Milovan Vidaković Prize in Novi Sad (Serbia) * 2017 Budapest Grand Prize (Hungary) * 2017 Literary Flame Prize (Montenegro) * 2019 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement


Doctorates, ''honoris causa''

* 2007
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
, Department of Philosophy and Humanities – 4 May 2007 * 2007 Tilburg University – 15 November 2007 * 2007
Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and t ...
, Department of Turkish Language and Literature – 14 May 2007 * 2007
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
's Honorary Degree: ''Doctor of Humane Letters''
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
* 2007
Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loc ...
* 2008 University of Florence * 2008
American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
* 2009 University of Rouen * 2010
University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of f ...
* 2010
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
* 2011 Sofia University * 2017 Brera Academy (Italia) * 2017 St. Petersburg State University *2018 University of Crete


Honours

* 2005 Honorary Member of American Academy of Arts and Letters (USA) * 2008 Honorary Member of Social Sciences of Chinese Academy (China) * 2008 Honorary Member of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
(USA) In 2005, Pamuk received the
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
25,000
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...
for his literary work, in which "Europe and Islamic Turkey find a place for one another." The award presentation was held at Paul's Church,
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
.


Bibliography


Novels (English)

* '' The White Castle'', translated by Victoria Holbrook, Manchester (UK): Carcanet Press Limited, 1990; 1991; New York: George Braziller, 1991 riginal title: ''Beyaz Kale''* '' The Black Book'', translated by Güneli Gün, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994 riginal title: ''Kara Kitap'' (A new translation by Maureen Freely was published in 2006) * '' The New Life'', translated by Güneli Gün, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997 riginal title: ''Yeni Hayat''* '' My Name Is Red'', translated by Erdağ M. Göknar, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001 riginal title: ''Benim Adım Kırmızı'' * ''
Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...
'', translated by Maureen Freely, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004 riginal title: ''Kar''* '' The Museum of Innocence'', translated by Maureen Freely, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, was released on 20 October 2009 riginal title: ''Masumiyet Müzesi''* '' Silent House'', translated by Robert Finn, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012 riginal title: ''Sessiz Ev''* '' A Strangeness in My Mind'', translated by Ekin Oklap, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015 riginal title: ''Kafamda Bir Tuhaflık''* '' The Red-Haired Woman'', translated by Ekin Oklap, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017 riginal title: ''Kırmızı saçlı kadın''* '' Nights of Plague'', translated by Ekin Oklap, London: Faber & Faber, 2022 riginal title: ''Veba Geceleri''


Non-fiction (English)

* '' Istanbul: Memories and the City'', translated by Maureen Freely, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005 riginal title: ''İstanbul: Hatıralar ve Şehir''* ''My Father’s Suitcase riginal title: Babamın Bavulu' Nobel lecture * '' Other Colors: Essays and a Story'', translated by Maureen Freely, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007 riginal title: ''Öteki Renkler''ref name="AutoEC-37" /> * ''The Innocence of Objects'' '' riginal title: Şeylerin Masumiyeti' * '' The Naive and Sentimental Novelist'', Harvard University Press, 2010 * ''Balkon'', Steidl Publisher, 2018 * ''Orange'', Steidl Publisher, 2020


Turkish


Novels

* ''Cevdet Bey ve Oğulları'' (''Cevdet Bey and His Sons''), novel, Istanbul: Karacan Yayınları, 1982 * ''Sessiz Ev'' ('' Silent House''), novel, Istanbul: Can Yayınları, 1983 * ''Beyaz Kale'' (''The White Castle''), novel, Istanbul: Can Yayınları, 1985 * ''Kara Kitap'' (''The Black Book''), novel, Istanbul: Can Yayınları, 1990 * ''Yeni Hayat'' (''The New Life''), novel, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 1994 * ''Benim Adım Kırmızı'' (''My Name is Red''), novel, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 1998 * ''Kar'' (''Snow''), novel, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2002 * ''Masumiyet Müzesi'' ('' The Museum of Innocence''), novel, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2008 * ''Kafamda Bir Tuhaflık'' (''A Strangeness in My Mind''), novel, Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Publications, 2014 * ''Kırmızı Saçlı Kadın'', (''The Red-Haired Woman''), novel, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2016 * ''Veba Geceleri'' ('' tr'',): " Nights of Plague" (2021) *''Fathers, Mothers and Sons : Cevdet Bey and Sons; The Silent House; The Red-Haired Woman'' ("Delta" Omnibüs, Novels volume I), Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2018


Other Works

*
Gizli Yüz
' (''Secret Face''), screenplay, Istanbul: Can Yayınları, 1992 * ''Öteki Renkler'' (''Other Colours''), essays, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 1999 * ''İstanbul: Hatıralar ve Şehir'' (''Istanbul: Memories and the City''), memoirs, Istanbul:
Yapı Kredi Yayınları Yapı Kredi Yayınları (''Yapi Kredi Publications'' in English) is one of the biggest publishing houses Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for f ...
, 2003 * ''Babamın Bavulu'' ('' My Father's Suitcase''), Nobel Söylevi, İstanbul, İletişim Yayınları, 2007 * ''Manzaradan Parçalar: Hayat, Sokaklar, Edebiyat'' (''Pieces from the View: Life, Streets, Literature''), essays, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2010 *
Saf ve Düşünceli Romancı
' ("Naive and Sentimental Novelist") literary criticism, İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2011 * ''Şeylerin Masumiyeti'' ('' The Innocence of Objects''), Masumiyet Müzesi Kataloğu, İletişim Yayınları 2012 * Resimli İstanbul - Hatıralar ve Şehir, memoir, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2015 * ''Hatıraların Masumiyeti'', scripts and essays, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2016 *''Balkon,'' (Introduction and photographs), Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2018 *''Orange'', (Introduction and Photographs), Yapi Kredi Yayınları, 192 pages, 350 images, 2020


References


External links


The comprehensive website on Orhan Pamuk
*
Orhan Pamuk
at Nobelprize.org - prize announcement
List of Works

Orhan Pamuk
at ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'' (article archive)
Documentary about Pamuk and The Armenian Genocide
at the ABC *
Urdu Translations of Orhan Pamuk's books
Jumhoori Publications
List of Published Books


Interviews

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pamuk, Orhan 1952 births Living people Bard College faculty Best Screenplay Golden Orange Award winners Freedom of expression in Turkey Columbia University faculty Istanbul University alumni Nobel laureates in Literature Writers from Istanbul Postmodern writers Prix Médicis étranger winners Robert College alumni Turkish essayists Turkish historical novelists Turkish people of Circassian descent Turkish memoirists Turkish Nobel laureates Turkish non-fiction writers Turkish novelists Turkish male screenwriters 20th-century novelists 21st-century novelists International Writing Program alumni 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists Members of the American Philosophical Society