Cahit Külebi (20 December 1917, in

Tokat Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

) was a leading

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and author. He has an important place in contemporary Turkish poetry due to his attachment to folk poetry traditions. His poetry is enriched with simple yet ironic language, embellished with original descriptions.

Biography

Külebi was born in Çeltek, a village of

Zile Zile, anciently known as Zela () (still as Latin Catholic titular see), is a city in Tokat Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Zile District.Tokat Province Tokat Province () is a province in northern Turkey. Its area is 10,042 km2, and its population is 596,454 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast. ...

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 1917. He completed his elementary school in Niksar and his secondary education in

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

. His family took the surname Erencan after passing the surname law, and the poet later registered his pseudonym Külebi. Then he went to

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 ...

and graduated from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature of The School of Higher Education of Teaching (1940). While he was studying at a teacher's school, he started using the pseudonym Külebi for the first time in these years, as he thought that Principal Fuat Köprülü would be angry with him for writing poems. He studied in the same class with Behçet Necatigil while he was at the teacher training school. Intern Literature teacher at Antalya High School; He taught literature at Ankara State Conservatory and Ankara Gazi High School. Also, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar taught at the school. Having finished his education, he worked 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 ...

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

and

. In the following years, he became the inspector of National Education. In 1964, he served as a

cultural attaché Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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. When he returned home, he served as Chief Inspector of the Ministry of National Education and Deputy Undersecretary of Culture. He retired voluntarily in 1973. He was the General Secretary of the Turkish Language Association in the period after 1976. He worked at the Turkish Language Association until 1983. He died in

in 1997.

Bibliography

;Poetry: * "''Adamın Biri''" (1946) * "''Rüzgâr''" (1949) * "''Atatürk Kurtuluş Savaşında''" (1952) * "''Yeşeren Otlar''" (1954) * "''Süt''" (1965) * "''Şiirler''" (1969) * "''Türk Mavisi''" (1973) * "''Sıkıntı ve Umut''" (1977) * "''Yangın''" (1980) * "''Bütün Şiirleri''" (1982) * "''Güz Türküleri''" (1991) * "''Bütün Şiirleri''" (1997) * "''Güzel Yurdum''" (1996) * "''Kamyonlar Kavun Taşır''" ;Memoirs: * "''İçi Sevda Dolu Yolculuk''" (1986) ;Proses: * "''Şiir Her Zaman''" (1985) ;Essays: * "''Ecem'in Günlüğü''" (1972)

References

* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Cahit Külebi''
* Antoloji.com
''Biography of Cahit Külebi''

External links

*Cahit Külebi's Poems set to Music
Bir Damla Deniz
by Poeterra 1917 births 1997 deaths People from Zile Turkish poets Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey) politicians 20th-century Turkish poets {{Turkey-poet-stub