Hıfzı Topuz (25 January 1923 – 26 September 2023) was a Turkish journalist,

travel writer The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered ...

and novelist. He also served as a lecturer on journalism at several universities.

Early life

Topuz was born on 25 January 1923 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. After finishing his secondary education at the

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

in 1942, he studied law at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

, graduating in 1948. Later, he went to France, where he attended

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

to conduct further studies in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

and

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 of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

between 1957 and 1959. In 1960, he earned a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in journalism from the same university.

Professional career

After graduating from Istanbul University, Topuz entered journalism, and was employed between 1948 and 1957 at the daily newspaper ''

Akşam ''Akşam'' (''Evening'') is a Turkish newspaper founded in 1918, owned by Zeki Yeşildağ's Türk Medya Grup (T Medya Yatırım San. ve Tic. AŞ.) since 2013. In 2013 it had a circulation of around 100,000. History ''Akşams founders in 1918 inc ...

'', where he worked as a reporter and later as an editor. He co-founded Istanbul Journalists' Union, and served as its leader. During his time in France, he applied for a vacant post at the headquarters of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He worked as a travelling reporter for the organization between 1959 and 1983. He was responsible for projects like professional coordination between international organizations of journalism,

journalism ethics and standards Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional " code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...

journalism education A journalism school is a school or department, usually part of an established university, where journalists are trained. 'J-School' is an increasingly used term for a journalism department at a school or college. Journalists in most parts of the ...

and security of journalists. Topuz conducted seminars on journalism education in African countries,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He developed

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

journalism project in Black Africa. While in Paris, Topuz interviewed for the Turkish daily newspapers notable people like painter Fikret Mualla (1903–1967), poet

Nazım Hikmet A nazim is the coordinator of a city or town in Pakistan. Nazim or variant spellings may also refer to: * Nazim (given name), including a list of people with the given name ** Nirmala Devi, born Nazim, Indian actress and singer * Nazim (surname), ...

(1902–1963), journalist Zekeriya Sertel (1890–1980), painter

Abidin Dino Abidin Dino (23 March 1913 – 7 December 1993) was a Turkish artist and a well-known painter. Early years Dino was born on 23 March 1913 in Istanbul into an art-loving family. He was grandchild of Abidin Pasha Dino (he is named after him), an ...

(1913–1993)), painter Nejat Devrim (1923–1995) and General

Nikolaos Trikoupis Nikolaos Trikoupis (; 1868–1956) was a Greek military officer and politician, most notable for his service in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. He also participated in the 1896 Summer Olympics, whe ...

(1869–1956), who commanded Greek troops during the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

and became a prisoner of war. Topuz planned in 1962 at the headquarters of UNESCO a project to establish the "College of Communications" (as its title then ) at the University of Ankara. Invited by İsmail Cem İpekçi, the newly appointed head of the state-owned

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish: ) is the national public broadcasting, public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio broadcaster in Turkey. Before the introductio ...

(TRT), he returned in 1974 to Turkey to lead the radio channels of TRT until 1975. In 1986, Topuz founded the "İletişim Araştırmaları Derneği" (İLAD) (literally: Communications Research Association), and became their president. Topuz wrote for the daily newspapers '' Vatan'', ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

'' and ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

'' and some magazines. He also taught lectures on press, history of radio-television, international communication and political communication at the communications faculties of

Anadolu University Anadolu University () is a public university in Eskişehir, Turkey. Anadolu University Distance Education Faculty (or Anadolu University Global Campus) serves as the national provider of distance education and is a member of the European Associ ...

, Galatasaray University and

Writer

Topuz wrote non-fiction on communications in addition to biographies, travel books and novels. He opened a new field in the

Turkish literature Turkish literature () comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language. The Ottoman form of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, was highly influenced by Persian and Arabic literature,Bertold Sp ...

by choosing the subject matters of his novels from history or historical figures.

Death

Topuz died on 26 September 2023, at the age of 100.

Awards

Topuz was honored in 1998 with the "Sertel Demokrasi Ödülü" (Sertel Democracy Award). He received in 2007 the " Orhan Kemal Roman Armağanı" (Orhan Kemal Novel Prize) for his work ''Başın Öne Eğilmesin''. The "Afrika Diplomatik Akademisi" (ADA) (Africa Diplomatic Academy) awarded him in 2008 with its "Peace and Friendship Prize". In 2009, the "Çağdaş Gazetecier Derneği" (Association of Contemporary Journalists) awarded him with its "Honor Prize".

Bibliography

;Non-fiction: *''Basin sözlüğü: Fransızcadan Türkçeye Fransızcaya, İngilizce karşılıklı'' (1968) Yenilik Basımevi, 111pp *''100 soruda Türk basın tarihi'' (1973) Gerc̦ek Yayınev, 270pp *''Seçim savaşları: televizyon, radyo, basın ve afişle'' (1977) Milliyet, 134pp *''Uluslararası İletişim'' (1984) Anadolu Üniversitesi, 243pp *''Cumhuriyetʹin beş dönemeci'' (with Hüsamettin Ünsal) (1984) Sergi Yayınevi, 199pp *''İletişimde karikatür ve toplum'' (1986) Anadolu Üniversitesi, 109pp *''Basında tekelleşmeler'' (1989) İLAD, 111pp *''Yarının radyo ve televizyon düzeni: özgür, özerk ve çoğulcu bir alternatif'' (1990) İLAD, 191pp *''Türkiye'de sec̦im kampanyaları'' (1991) Türkiye Sosyal Ekonomik Siyasal Araștırmalar Vakfı, 85pp *''Siyasal reklamcılık: dünyadan ve Türkiye'den örneklerle'' (1991) Cem Yayınevi, 248pp , *''Seçimlerde iletişim politikaları'' (1991) TüSES, 230pp *''Kara Afrika sanatı'' (1992) Ant, 96pp *''Türk Basın Tarihi: II. Mahmut'tan holdinglere'' (1996) Remzi Kitabevi, 470pp *''Başlangıcından Bugüne Dünya Karikatürü'' (1997) İnkılâp Kitabevi, 264pp *''Dünyada ve Türkiye'de kültür politikaları'' (1998) Adam, 86pp ;Biographies: *''Konuklar geçiyor: TV'de "Her hafta bir konuk" programındaki konuşmalar, anılar'' (1975) Çağdaş Yayınları, 237pp *''Lumumba: Kara Afrikd̓a işkenceyle öldürülen ilk Başbakan'' (1987) Yön Yayıncılık, 199pp *''Paris'te son Osmanlılar: Mediha Sultan ve Damat Ferit'' (1999) Remzi Kitabevi (reprint 2005), 302pp , *''Hatice Sultan'' (2001) Remzi Kitabevi, 246pp , *''Nâzïm Hikmet: vivre comme un arbre, seul et libre, vivre en frères comme les arbres d'une forêt'' (2002) Turquoise, 335pp *''Gazi ve Fikriye'' (2006) Edition Orient, 286pp , *''Fikret Muallâ: anılar, resimler, fotoğraflar'' (2005) Everest Yayınları, 359pp , *''Abidin Dino: İkinci kitap, 1942–1952'' (2008) Kitap Yayınevi *''Abdülmecit: İmparatorluk Çökerken Sarayda 22 Yıl'' (2009) Remzi Kitabevi, 205pp *''Bana Atatürk'ü anlattılar'' (2010) Remzi Kitabevi, 167pp , ;Travel books: *''Kara Afrika'' (1971) Milliyet yayınları, 348pp *''Parisli yıllar'' (1994) Bilgi Yayinevi, 302pp *''Elveda Afrika-Hoşça Kal Paris'' (2005) Remzi Kitabevi, 462pp , *''Nişantaşı Anıları'' (2009) Heyamola Yayınları, 134pp , ;Novels: *''Taif’te Ölüm'' (2000) Remzi Kitabevi, 255pp , *''Meyyâle'' (1998) Remzi Kitabevi (reprint 2001), 224pp , *''Eski Dostlar'' (2000) Remzi Kitabevi, 270pp , *''Milli Mücadele'de Çamlıca'nın üç gülü'' (2002) Remzi Kitabevi, 287pp , *''Devrim yılları'' (2004) Remzi kitabevi, 287pp ISBN *''Tavcan: savaş yıllarında kültür devrimi roman'' (2005) Remzi Kitabevi, 221pp *''Başın Öne Eğilmesin: Sabahattin Ali'nin romanı'' (2006) Remzi Kitabevi, 264pp *''Özgürlüğe Kurşun'' (2007) Edition Orient, 254pp , *''Kara çığlık: Afrika'da başkaldırı ve aşk'' (2008) Remzi Kitabevi, 228pp ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topuz, Hifzi 1923 births 2023 deaths Galatasaray High School alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni University of Strasbourg alumni Turkish journalists UNICEF people Turkish civil servants 20th-century travel writers Turkish travel writers Turkish novelists Turkish non-fiction writers Turkish biographers Academic staff of Anadolu University Academic staff of Galatasaray University Academic staff of Istanbul University Turkish officials of the United Nations Turkish expatriates in France Turkish men centenarians Writers from Istanbul