Behçet Necatigil (16 April 1916 – 13 December 1979) was a leading

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

author, poet and translator.

Biography

Behçet was born in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, in 1916. He graduated from the Teachers' High School ( tr, İstanbul Yüksek Öğretmen Okulu) in

in 1940, and served as a teacher of

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

at Kabatas Erkek Lisesi until the year 1972. His first poem was published in ''Varlık'' journal during his high school years in 1935. From then on, he continued to write poetry for over 40 years. Behçet is also well known for his

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s. In the

Şairler Sofası A part of Beşiktaş Vişnezade Park is oriented under the name "Şairler Sofası". ''Şairler Sofası'' is the 1998 sculpture by Gürdal Duyar whos name the park goes by. The depicted characters in the sculpture as well as the figures depicted ...

park in

Vişnezade Vişnezade is a neighborhood in İstanbul, Turkey. ''Vişne'' means "sour cherry" and the neighborhood is named after İzzeti Mehmet Efendi (1629-1681) an Ottoman statesman nicknamed ''Vişnezade'' who was known to cultivate sour cherry in the pla ...

Istanbul there are two sculptures of him that were erected with the parks inauguration in 1998. These are an individual sculpture of him by sculptor

Namık Denizhan Namik or Namık is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Namig Abdullayev (born 1971), Azerbaijani wrestler * Namik Dokle (born 1946), Albanian politician * Namık Gedik (1911–1960), Turkish physician and politician * N ...

, and the main sculpture of the park ''Şairler Sofası'' by sculptor

Gürdal Duyar ) , family = Neşe Aybey (sister) , spouse = , awards = , organization = Turkish High Sculptors Society , education = Rudolf Belling, Ali Hadi Bara , alma_mater = State Academy o ...

, in which he is featured alongside 7 other poets.

Necatigil Poetry Award

To commemorate his life, an annual poetry award was instituted in 1980. It was given on the date of Necatigil's death (13 December) until 1993 but is now given at the date of his birth, which is 16 Apri
www.necatigil.com.

Bibliography

;Poetry * "''Kapalıçarşı''" (1945) * "''Çevre''" (1951) * "''Evler''" (1953) * "''Eski Toprak''" (1956) * "''Arada''" (1958) * "''Dar Çağ''" (1960) * "''Yaz Dönemi''" (1963) * "''Divançe''" (1965) * "''İki Başına Yürümek''" (1968) * "''En/Cam''" (1970) * "''Zebra''" (1973) * "''Kareler Aklar''" (1975) * "''Beyler''" (1978) * "''Söyleriz''" (1980)

Sample Poem

IN LOVE Love, you put off till tomorrow Timid, reverent, tongue-tied. Unknown you remained To all your kin. Through concerns never ending, (I know you never wanted it that way) The feelings that welled in your heart Never swelled When a glance was enough to reveal everything. You expected longer days to come Speaking of love in minutes was ugly to you That the years would pass in such a hurry, In such a fuss never crossed your mind. In your secret garden There were flowers blossoming at night, alone. You regarded too trifling to give Or somehow, you hadn’t enough time.

References

* Biyografi.info
''Biography of Behçet Necatigil''
* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Behçet Necatigil''

External links