Tevfik Fikret ( ota, توفیق فكرت) was the pseudonym of Mehmed Tevfik (December 24, 1867 – August 19, 1915), an Ottoman-Turkish educator and poet, who is considered the founder of the modern school of

Turkish poetry There were a number of poetic trends in the poetry of Turkey in the early years of the Republic of Turkey. Authors such as Ahmed Hâşim and Yahyâ Kemâl Beyatlı (1884–1958) continued to write important formal verse whose language was, to a g ...

Biography

Family

Mehmed Tevfik was born in Istanbul on December 24, 1867.Ayşegül Yaraman-Başbuğu, ''Biyografya: Tevfik Fikret'', Bağlam, 2006,
p. 17.
"Kökleri, baba tarafından

Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek: Γάγγρα), is the capital city of Çankırı Province, in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. History Çankırı was known in ...

'sancağı'nın Çerkeş kazasına, anne tarafından ise Sakız adalı, Islâmiyeti benimseyen

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

asıllı bir aileye uzanan Mehmet Tevfik (sonradan Tevfik Fikret) 24 Aralık 1867 tarihinde İstanbul'da doğmuş..." His father (Hüseyin Efendi), originally from the district of Çerkeş in the sanjak of

, was mostly absent, as he was exiled for being a political foe of the ruling regime; while his mother (Hatice Refia Hanım), a

Greek Muslim Greek Muslims, also known as Grecophone Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin whose adoption of Islam (and often the Turkish language and identity) dates to the period of Ottoman rule in the southern Balkans. They consist primarily of th ...

convert from the island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

, died when he was very young.

Education

He received his education at the prestigious

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

and graduated in 1888 as the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

with the highest grades. He later became the school's principal. His sister suffered a tragic early death. In 1890 he married his cousin Nazime, and the couple had a son named Haluk in 1895. He left Galatasaray in 1894 and started teaching at another prestigious institution on the

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

, in 1896, where he kept working until his death. In 1906, he built a house inside the Robert College campus for his wife and son. Named ''Aşiyan'', the house is now a museum.

Career

In 1894 he published the literary magazine '' Malûmat''. In 1896 he became the chief editor of the ''

Servet-i Fünun ''Servet-i Fünun'' ("''Wealth of Knowledge''", french: Servetifunoun) was an avant-garde journal published in the Ottoman Empire and later in Turkey. Halit Ziya (Uşaklıgil) and the other writers of the "New Literature" ( ota, Edebiyat-ı Cedi ...

'' ("The Wealth of Knowledge"), a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

that aimed for the simplification of the

Ottoman language Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...

, where he worked with other Ottoman writers including Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, İsmail Safa, Mehmet Rauf, Samipaşazade Sezai and

Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın (7 December 1874 – 18 October 1957) was a prominent Turkish theorist, writer and politician. He is famous for being a dissident journalist, who has been put on trial and punished due to his columns. His publications defe ...

. He continued his contributions to ''Servet-i Fünun'' until 1901, when his works were banned by the Ottoman government. In 1908, after the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...

, he began publishing the newspaper '' Tanin'', which became a strong supporter of the ruling party, the

Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...

(''Ittihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti'', CUP). He was eventually disappointed with their politics, and returned to Galatasaray High School as the principal; however, during the anti-CUP reactionary 31 March Incident (''31 Mart Vakası'') of 1909, he chained himself to the school gates as a protest and resigned the same day. He had projects for a new school and magazines, however, due to complications from diabetes he refused to treat, he died in 1915 and was buried in the family plot at Eyüp. Fikret's volumes of verse include ''Rubab-ı Şikeste'' ("The Broken Lute") from 1900, and ''Haluk'un Defteri'' ("Haluk's Notebook") from 1911.

Politics

Fikret is recognized as an advocate for

free 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 rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...

and

constitutional government A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

. He was openly critical of

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

. His works were censored by the Ottoman government in 1901. In 1902 he published ''Sis'', a collection of poems denouncing dictatorship and repressive politics. He was investigated by the Ottoman police numerous times because of his political views and writings, and his association with known political opponents of Abdul Hamid II, such as fellow writer

Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil (also spelled Halit and Uşakizâde) (; 1866 – 27 March 1945) was a Turkish author, poet, and playwright. A part of the ''Edebiyat-ı Cedide'' ("New Literature") movement of the late Ottoman Empire, he was the founder o ...

. Because of his very fiery writings and poetry in which he criticised the Ottoman regime of Abdul Hamid II, he was immortalized as the "freedom poet". Fikret was also critical of Islamic conservatism and nationalism, writing "My patrie atherlandis the world and my nation is humanity".

Legacy

Fikret is considered the father of modern

, emphasizing literary skill and knowledge over divine inspiration. Like many classic Turkish poets, he used his considerable knowledge of

Turkish music The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popula ...

in composing his poetry.

Bibliography

Poems * "''Rubab-ı Şikeste''" (1900) * "''Tarih-i Kadim''" (1905) * "''Haluk'un Defteri''" (1911) * "''Rubabın Cevabı''" (1911) * "''Şermin''" (1914) * "''Son Şiirler''" (1952)

Notes

References

* Kuiper, Kathleen. ''Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature''. Merriam-Webster, 1995. * Biyografi.info
''Biography of Tevfik Fikret''

External links

Tevfik Fikret - ''On his life and poetry''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fikret, Tevfik 1867 births 1915 deaths Writers from Istanbul 19th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire Turkish-language poets Burials at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery Galatasaray High School alumni 20th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire Male poets from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century male writers 20th-century male writers People from Çankırı Turkish magazine founders