Behçet Necatigil (Mehmet Behçet Gönül) (16 April 1916, Istanbul - 13 December 1979, Istanbul), Turkish poet, teacher and translator who is often considered to be one of the most important poets of modern Turkish poetry. His paternal family originated from Kastamonu, a city in Turkey's Western Black Sea region.His father, Mehmet Necati Gönül, was from the Çörekçiler family of Kastamonu. The family moved to Kastamonu when Behçet was young, and he completed his primary education there. His interest in literature is noted to have begun during his middle school years in Kastamonu. He later returned to Istanbul to continue his education and career.Throughout his writing life he stood apart from all literary movements, and was known as an independent poet and intellectual. Besides poetry, he has produced works in many fields of literature, from theater to mythology, from lexicography to novel translations and radio plays. He contributed greatly to the adoption of radiophonic play as a branch of literature in Turkey with his plays, translations and adaptations. The artist, who is known as the "Poet of Houses", is also known for his identity as a teacher as well as his literary work.

Biography

Behçet was born 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 ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, in 1916. He graduated from the Teachers' High School () in

in 1940, and served as a teacher of

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

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, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

s. He was among the contributors of the literary magazine ''

Papirüs ''Papirüs'' () was a literary magazine which was published in Istanbul between 1960 and 1981 with some interruptions. The magazine is known for its founder and editor Cemal Süreya who was a poet and its well-known contributors. History and pro ...

'' which was edited by

Cemal Süreya Cemâl Süreya (born Cemâlettin Seber; 1931 – 9 January 1990) was a Turkish poet and writer of Kurdish– Zaza descent. Biography Süreya and his family were deported to Bilecik, a city in the Marmara Region of Turkey after the Dersim R ...

. 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 whose name the park goes by. The depicted characters in the sculpture as well as the figures depict ...

park 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 ...

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 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), ...

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

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, ...

, 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''
*Özgen, Arif. "Bençet Necatigil'in "İçerde" Adlı Şiirini Psikanalitik Açıdan Çözümleme Denemesi" (PDF). www.sobider.com/. SOBİDER, Yıl 1, Sayı 1, Aralık 2014. 7 Kasım 2017 tarihinde kaynağından (PDF) arşivlendi. Erişim tarihi: 6 Haziran 2016. *Huyugüzel, Faruk. "Garip Dışında Kalan Bağımsız Şairler". ekitap.kulturturizm.gov.tr/. “Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin Temeli Kültürdür” Kültür Bak. Yay., Ankara, 2002. 11 Haziran 2016 tarihinde kaynağından arşivlendi. Erişim tarihi: 6 Haziran 2006. *Şişmanoğlu, Şehnaz. "Behçet Necatigil ve Şiirin Ev Hali" (PDF). www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr. Bilkent Üniversitesi Türk Edebiyatı Bölümü Master Tezi, Eylül 2003. 4 Mart 2016 tarihinde kaynağından arşivlendi (PDF). Erişim tarihi: 6 Haziran 2016. * Behçet Necatigil." Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. https://www.ktb.gov.tr/EN-119443/necatigil-behcet.html * "Behçet Necatigil - Hayatı." Behçet Necatigil Official Website. http://www.necatigil.com/en/index.html * "Kastamonulu ünlü şair ve yazar Behçet Necatigil 100 yaşında." Kastamonu Gazetesi. https://www.kastamonugazetesi.com.tr/kastamonulu-unlu-sair-ve-yazar-behcet-necatigil-100-yasinda/

External links