Orhan Veli Kanık or Orhan Veli (13 April 1914 – 14 November 1950) was a Turkish poet. He was one of the founders of the Garip Movement together with Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet.

Life

Childhood and education

Orhan Veli Kanık was born at number 9 Çayır Alley on the İshak Ağa Climb in Yalıköy

Beykoz Beykoz () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 310 km2, and its population is 247,875 (2022). It lies at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name i ...

, on 13 April 1914. His father, Mehmet Veli, was the son of Fehmi Bey, a merchant from

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, and his mother was Fatma Nigar, Hacı Ahmet Bey's daughter from

. Veli spent his childhood years in

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

and

Cihangir Cihangir is an affluent neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beyoğlu, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 3,739 (2022). It is located between Taksim Square and Kabataş. It has many narrow streets, two parks, and many st ...

. He graduated from high school in 1932. He was enrolled in the philosophy chair of

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 ...

's Department of Literature. In 1933 he was elected the president of the Department of Literature Students' Association. He dropped out of the university in 1935 without obtaining his degree. He continued with his teacher's assistant position at the Galatasaray High School for another year after dropping out of college.

Later life and literary career

Kanık moved to Ankara and was hired at Telegraph Department International Orders Bureau of the PTT, the Turkish national mail and telegraph service. He left PTT in 1942 for his mandatory military service. He served until 1945 in Kavakköy in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

. He was discharged in 1945 as a lieutenant and started working in the Translations Department of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Death

After Yaprak was shuttered Kanık moved back to Istanbul. On 10 November 1950 while visiting Ankara he fell down a hole dug in the street by the municipality. He returned to Istanbul two days later. On 14 November he felt sick while having lunch at a friend's house and was admitted to hospital. He was misdiagnosed and treated for alcohol poisoning, slipping into a coma at 20:00 the same evening. He died of a

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

at 23:30 in Cerrahpaşa Hospital, Istanbul. For the 38th anniversary of his death a sculpture of him was inaugurated in Aşiyan Asri Cemetery where he is buried. In 1998 two more sculptures were made featuring him, this time in

Vişnezade Vişnezade is a neighborhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 7,959 as of 2023. ''Vişne'' translates to "Prunus cerasus, sour cherry" from Turkish and the neighborhood is named after İz ...

. He is featured in

Gürdal Duyar Gürdal Duyar (20 August 1935 – 18 April 2004) was a Turkish sculptor who is known for his monuments to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Atatürk and his Bust (sculpture), busts of famous people. His art is characterized as having a Modern sculpture, ...

s ''Şairler Sofası'' which was erected in a park of the same name. The sculpture features him with six other Turkish poets. In the same park

Namık Denizhan Namig, Namik or Namık is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Namig Abasli (born 1997), Azerbaijani Paralympic judoka * Namig Abbasov (1940–2024), Azerbaijani diplomat and politician * Namig Abdullayev (born 1971), ...

s sculpture of Orhan Veli was also erected.

Works

*''Garip'' (Together with Oktay Rifat and Melih Cevdet, 1941) *''Garip'' (1945) *''Vazgeçemediğim'' (1945) *''Destan Gibi'' (1946) *''Yenisi'' (1947) *''Karşı'' (1949) *''Collected Poems'' (1951, 1975)

Translations

''Güneş/Sol'', Leonardo da Fonseca (trad.),
(n.t.) Revista Literária em Tradução
', nº 2 (mar/2011), Fpolis/Brasil, ISSN 2177-5141

References

External links

— a website with many of Orhan Veli's poems, as translated by Talat Sait Halman
''Poems By Orhan Veli''
— a website with Orhan Veli's poems, as translated by Murat Nemet Nejat
''Official Web Site''
— official web site of Orhan Veli Kanık {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanik, Orhan Veli 1914 births 1950 deaths People from Beykoz Darülfünun alumni Turkish poets Turkish satirists Burials at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery 20th-century Turkish poets Deaths from intracranial aneurysm Academic staff of Ankara State Conservatory