Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem was one of the most important writers of his time. He was born on 1^st March of 1847 at Istanbul. He completed his education at “Mektebi Irfan”. He was accepted as an official to Hariciye Mektubi Kalemi (Foreign Letters Department). He met with Namık Kemal and he began to write for “Tasviri Efkar” newspaper. The newspaper administration was left to Reacizade Ekrem when Namik Kemal had escaped to Europe, in 1867. Recaizade Ekrem was not interested in the politics and he vowed himself to literature. He began to publish his essays and articles in the “Dagarcik” magazine published by Ahmet Mithat Efendi. He translated the Western literature to Turkish. He became a member of Surayi Devlet (the Council Of State). He began teaching in the School of Politics (Mulkiye Mektebi) and he continued at Galatasaray Sultanisi (College). He collected his lectures in the book called Talimi Edebiyat, in 1883. This book was an important work with its modern view on the poetry. He died in Istanbul on the 31^st January of 1914. When he had died he was a member of Meclisi Ayan. One of his important contribution to the Turkish Literature was to bring his students together around the journal of “Serveti Funun” and also to be a vanguard of the emergence of “Edebiyati Cedide”.

His Works:
Poetry : “Namei Seher”, “Yadigari Sebab”, “Zemzeme” (3 volumes),
Novel : Araba Sevdasi ,
Short Story : “Muhsin Bey Yahut Sairligin Hazin Bir Neticesi”, “Semsa”,
Play: “Afife Anjelik”, “Vuslat Veyhaut Sureksiz Sevinc”, “Cok Bilen Cok Yanilir”,
Non Fiction: “Talimi Edebiyat”, “Pejmurde”, “Nijad Ekrem”.

©Copyright 1999 FORSNeT (All Rights Reserved)