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Muradi (Murādī) was the pen name of three Ottoman sultan-poets: Murad II (Murād, r. 824–48/1421–44 and 850–5/1446–51), Murad III (r. 982–1003/1574–95), and Murad IV (r. 1032–49/1623–40). Ottoman princes in general received an excellent education from the best teachers and men of learning available. Their education included classes in calligraphy, the arts, and literature. Consequently, more than half of all Ottoman sultans left works of poetry, some of which are sizeable divans (dīvān, the collection of one poet’s poems). Murad II is considered to be the first Ottoman sul…

Aşki İlyas (ʿAşqī İlyās, ?–984/1576), also known as Üsküdarlı Aşki, belongs among the popular Ottoman poets of his time. He was born in Rumelihisarı (Yenihisar, Istanbul), and was probably the son of a janissary. One source (Koçu) indicates that he was brought to Istanbul in the course of devşirme ( devshirme, the “collection” of boys from among Balkan and Anatolian Christian subjects) and brought up in the janissary corps, but this information is not confirmed in any other source. Aşki served in the janissary corps until sometime before 944–5/…

Aydede (literally “grandfather moon,” a term used by children for the moon) was an important Turkish political satirical magazine, which was published twice weekly from 2 kanun-ı sani ( qānūn-i thānī, January) to 9 teşrin-i sani ( teşrīn-i thānī, November) 1922. Ninety issues of four pages each appeared in print. Refik Halid (Refīq Khālid) [Karay] (1888–1965), who wrote his famous editorials nakş-ı berab (naqş-i berāb), or “drawings on the water,” under the pseudonym “Aydede,” was the owner and director (sahip ve müdür/ṣāḥib ve müdīr) of the journal. Beginni…

Haşimi Emir Osman (Hāşimī Emīr ʿOthmān, 919–1002 or 1003/1513–94 or 95) Efendi, an Ottoman poet and Ṣūfī shaykh, also called Saçlı Emir and Kasımpaşalı Emir Efendi, was born in Sivas, Anatolia, the son of Mehmed Sivasi (Meḥmed Sivāsī), of whom nothing further is known. Because his mother’s family descended from the Prophet Muḥammad, Haşimi bears, among others, the appellation seyyid ( sayyid, a title of honour for the Prophet’s descendants). He wore his hair long like the seyyids in Iran and therefore also had the nickname Saçlı, “the hairy one.” He received his basic ed…

Yahya Kemal Beyatlı (Yaḥyā Kemāl, 1884–1958) was a celebrated Turkish poet and essayist who was born in Üsküb (today’s Skopje, in the Republic of Macedonia), on 2 December 1884, under the name Ahmed Agah (Aḥmed Āgāh). (He used the names Mehmed Agah (Meḥmed Āgāh) and Agah Kemal (Āgāh Kemāl) in his early poems.) He received his initial education in Üsküb and Salonica (Selānīk, present-day Thessaloniki, in Greece), and after spending one year in Istanbul, he went to Paris in 1903 to continue his stud…

Sermet Muhtar (Sermed Mukhtār) Alus (5 Ramazan (Ramaḍān) 1304/28 May 1887–20 May 1952) was a Turkish journalist and writer. He was born in Istanbul to highly educated, intellectual parents, and from his early childhood he had private lessons in French, German, and painting. He completed his secondary school education at the Mekteb-i Sultani (Mekteb-i Sulṭānī, the Imperial School, today’s Galatasaray Lisesi) in 1906 and graduated from the Mekteb-i Hukuk (Mekteb-i Ḥuqūq, the Faculty of Law at the Darü…

Arşi (ʿArşī) was the pen-name of Mahmud (Maḥmūd) Çelebi, who was probably born sometime in the early tenth/sixteenth century, in Yenipazar (Rumeli), whence his by-name Yenipazarlı (Yenipāzārlı). Information concerning his life is sparse, and the sources do not always agree in their reports. There are even differing opinions on his name: according to most tezkires ( tez kires, poets’ biographies) his name was Mahmud (Maḥmūd), but Riyazi (Riyāżī, d. 1054/1644), Şemseddin Sami (Şemseddīn Sāmī, d. 1904), and the Sicill-i ʿOsmānī all state that his name was Mehmed (Meḥmed), alt…

Ahmed Haşim (Aḥmed Ḥāşim) was a Turkish poet and writer who was born in 1304–5/1887 (recently corrected from 1301–2/1884) in Baghdad into the distinguished Alusizade (Ālūsīzāde) family. As his father was employed as an Ottoman government official in various Arab provinces the young Ahmed had no structured education and could not speak Turkish. He lost his mother at the age of eight or nine, a traumatic experience that caused him to become a sad, sensitive, and introverted child, something which w…

İntizami (İntiẓāmī Bosnevī, b. c. 946/1540, d. after 1021/1612) was the pen-name of a Bosnian-born Ottoman writer of poetry and prose. His real name is unknown, and Hammer’s statement that it was probably “Tschausch Rahmisade” is firmly rejected (“sicherlich nicht Raḥ(ī)mīzāde”) by Babinger. The few things we know about his life and works are from marginal notes and comments in his work Surname-i hümayun ( Sūrnāme-i hümāyūn, “Imperial festival book”), particularly in the manuscript located at Istanbul’s Atatürk Library. İntizami was born circa 946/1540 in the Bosnian town …

Habsi (Ḥabsī)/Hasbi (Ḥasbī), Gedizli or Geduzi (Gedūzī, “of Geduz”) was a pen name of an Ottoman poet (d. after 960/1553) whose real name, date of birth, and year of death are unknown. He was born in Geduz (Gediz), in the principality of Germiyan (Kütahya), where he received his medrese (madrasa) education. After moving to Istanbul, where his elder brother, the better-known poet Keşfi (Keşfī), had been living for years, he first wrote poems under the pen name Habsi. The available biographical data introduce him as a tragic figure. Spending muc…

Hudayi (Khudāyī, also erroneously Hüdāyī, Hüdāʾī) Mustafa (Muṣṭafā) Bey, given the byname Okçuzade (Oqçızāde), was an Ottoman janissary and poet born to a janissary on an unknown date in Istanbul. The meagre information we have about his life comes from a rhymed petition that he wrote to Sultan Süleyman (Süleymān) I (r. 926–74/1520–66) after having been demoted from his position of scribe, seeking a post in Istanbul, his home town. His professional career, like his father’s, was in the Ottoman military. He was enlisted as a janissary for more than twenty years, reaching the rank of yaya-ba…

Mustafa Çelebi Hüdayi (Hüdāyī, Hüdāʾī, d. 991/1583–4) was an Ottoman poet, composer, and muezzin. He is given various bynames: Musluşah/Muslişa (Muṣluşāh/Muṣlīşāh), Sala Muslusu/Muslisi (Ṣalā Muṣlusu/Muṣlīsi), Hüdayi-i Kadim (Hüdāyī-yi Qadīm, to distinguish him from Mahmud Hüdayi), Hüdayi-i Müezzin (Hüdāyī-yi Müʾedhdhin), Musalli (Muṣallī) Çelebi, Sada Musallası (Ṣadā Muṣallası). He was born in Istanbul, apparently in the early decades of the tenth/sixteenth century. Although Hüdayi is mentioned in all important biographical dictionaries of poets ( tezkires/ tedhkire…

Osman Cemal Kaygılı (ʿOthmān Cemāl, b. 19 Safer (Ṣafar) 1308/4 October 1890, d. 9 January 1945), a Turkish author, poet, and playwright, was born into modest circumstances in the Otakçılar district of Istanbul. Early in his childhood, he lost his father and was raised by his mother with the help of relatives. He graduated from the Menşe-i Küttab-ı Askeriye (Menşeʾ-i Küttāb-i ʿAskeriyye, a school that trained clerical personnel for the army) and began working as a secretary in the military in 1323–…

Andelib (ʿAndelīb) was the pen-name of Mehmet Faik Esat (Meḥmed Fāʾiq Esʿad, 1290–1320/1873–1902), an Ottoman poet and writer. He was born in Istanbul, the son of Başmakçızade Zühdi (Başmaqçızāde Zühdī) Molla Efendi (a former kadı (qāḍī) of Edirne), and he received a private education, which included training in Arabic and Persian literature. Mehmet Esat was not attracted by the prospect of a career in the civil service, and he chose to pursue journalism. He served as editor-in-chief (başmuḥarrir) for various periodicals, such as Hazine-i Fünun (Khazīne-i Fünūn), Mektep (Mekteb), a…

Arşi (ʿArşī) Dede was born in Tire (Western Anatolia, near Izmir) sometime in the tenth/sixteenth century, hence his sobriquet Tireli (resp. Tirevī in Ottoman). Little is known about his life, only that he was an educated man who initially worked as a müderris (professor) before becoming a Mevlevi (Mevlevī) dervish and moving to the Peloponnese (Mora). He stayed in a number of different places there before his death, the date of which is unknown, in a Mevlevi convent (tekke/tekye). When Âşık (ʿĀşıq) Çelebi (d. 1572/979) wrote his Tezkire ( Tedhkire, book of poets’ biographies, compl…

Abdülbaki Fevzi (ʿAbd al-Bāqī Fawzī) Uluboy (1885–1956), a Turkish poet, was born in Çorum, in north-central Anatolia, where he received his basic education. He continued with private lessons in Arabic, French, Persian, history, and law, and in 1909, he began working as a teacher. He was first employed in Çorum, then in several other Turkish towns (İzmit, İnebolu, Kastamonu), and finally, after 1919 (punctuated by short interludes elsewhere), in Istanbul. In the 1920s, he also engaged in business and ran a small shop that sold bottles in Istanbul’s Sirkeci district. Abdülbaki publish…

Ahmed Rasim (Aḥmed Rāsim, 1865(?)–1932), a Turkish journalist and author, was born in Istanbul and raised in difficult circumstances by his mother alone. He received his formative education (1876–83) at the Darüşşafaka (Dār al-Şafaqa, a boarding school that opened in 1873 to educate Muslim orphans), where he developed an interest in art, music, and literature. After working for two years as a postal official, he turned to writing as a career. Except for a brief stint as a teacher and a period of …

Hüdayi (Hüdāyī or Hüdāʾī) Hüseyin (Ḥüseyn) Efendi, also called Ahizade (Akhīzāde) (d. 1043/1634), was born in 980/1572 in Istanbul, the son of Ahizade Mehmed (Akhīzāde Meḥmed) Efendi (d. 989/1581), a kazasker ( qāḍī-ʿasker, chief military judge) of Anatolia during the reign of Sultan Selim (Selīm) II (r. 974–82/1566–74). He received a good education and then joined the teaching circle of the famous statesman and historian Hoca Sadeddin (Khoca Saʿd al-Dīn, d. 1008/1599). Hüdayi’s career was, nevertheless, a roller coaster of promotion and demotion: First, he served at several medres…

İsmeti (ʿİṣmetī, d. 1076/1665) was the penname of the Ottoman poet Mehmet Çelebi b. Fazlullah (Meḥmed Çelebi b. Faḍlullāh). He was born in Istanbul, sometime between 1020/1611 and 1022/1613, to Şeyh Fazlullah Birgivizade (Shaykh Faḍlullāh Birgivīzāde, d. 1032–3/1623), son of the well-known scholar Birgivi/Birgili Mehmed (Birgivī/Birgili Meḥmed) Efendi (d. 981/1573). Thus, İsmeti was born into a highly educated, cultured family. He was first taught by his father, then by a succession of other learned men. During his studies, he also served as a müderris (teacher at a medrese) and a…

Kemal Tahir (İsmail Kemalettin/İsmāʿīl Kamāl al-Dīn, b. 1 Rebiülevvel (Rabīʿ I) 1328/13 March 1910, d. 21 April 1973) was a Turkish author known especially for his novels. Born in Istanbul, he spent his childhood and elementary-school years in various Ottoman towns due to his father’s work. After finishing ortaokul (junior high school) in Istanbul (1923), he enrolled at the Galatasaray Lisesi (high school) but had to leave upon the death of his mother. He first worked as a lawyer’s clerk (avukat katibi) in Istanbul and then as a stock clerk (ambar memuru) at the coal mines in Zongulda…