Meryem Muazzez Tahsin ( – 4 October 1984) was a

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 ...

female writer. After the

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inui ...

in 1934, she assumed the surname Berkand.

Life

She was born to Hasan Tahsin and his wife Ayşe in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, Greece, then a part of the

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) ...

.Writers of Turkey
/ref> There is no consensus on her birth year as 1894 or 1900.
/ref> According to ''Writers of Turkey'' she was born in 1899. The family left Thessaloniki after the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, and emigrated to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, Ottoman Empire in 1912. In Constantinople, she learned English and French by private lessons, and studied at the French missionary school of ''Soeurs de l'Assomption'' in Istanbul. In 1917, she went to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, then under the Ottoman rule, to serve as a teacher of Turkish language in the Beirut High School for Girls, which was founded by

Halide Edip In chemistry, a halide (rarely halogenide) is a binary chemical compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative (or more electropositive) than the halogen, to make a fluor ...

. After the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

in 1922, she returned to Istanbul to serve a few years in the Şişli Terakki High School as a teacher of French and Ethics. Between 1925 and 1929, she worked for the "National Automobile Company" as a translator, and secretary. Berkand entered then the

Ottoman Bank The Ottoman Bank ( tr, Osmanlı Bankası), known from 1863 to 1925 as the Imperial Ottoman Bank (french: Banque Impériale Ottomane, ota, بانق عثمانی شاهانه) and correspondingly referred to by its French acronym BIO, was a bank ...

as a translator. She served 25 years in the Department of Legal Affairs of the bank. She never married. Berkand died in Istanbul on 4 October 1984.

Works

Her books (excluding the adaptations and the story book) are the following. * 1933: ''Sen ve Ben'' ("You and Me") * 1935: ''Bahar Çiçeği'' ("Spring Flower") * 1935: ''Sonsuz Gece'' ("The Endless Night") * 1938: ''Bir Genç Kızın Romanı'' ("The Novel of a Girl") * 1941: ''Kezban'' * 1943: ''Kızım ve Aşkım'' ("My daughter and my Love") * 1944: ''Saadet Güneşi'' ("The Sun of Happiness") * 1945: ''Lâle'' ("Tulip") * 1948: ''Büyük Yalan'' (The Big Lie) * 1949: ''O ve Kızı'' ( "She and Her Daughter") * 1953: ''Sevmek Korkusu'' ("Fear of Love") * 1957: ''Kırılan Ümitler'' (" Destroyed Hopes") * 1958: ''Rüya Gibi'' ( "Like a Dream") * 1960: ''Yılların Ardından'' ("After the Years") * 1963: ''Gençlik Rüzgârı'' ("Wind of Youth") * 1967: ''İlk Aşk'' ("First Love") * 1972: ''Bir Gün Sabah Olacak mı'' ("Will the Sun Rise One Day?") * 1972: ''İki Kalp Arasında'' ("Between Two Hearts") * 1974: ''Uğur Böceği'' ("Ladybug") * 1980: ''Yabancı Adam'' ("Strange Man")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkand, Muazzez Tahsin 1890s births 1984 deaths Writers from Thessaloniki Educators from the Ottoman Empire Turkish schoolteachers Turkish women writers Turkish novelists 20th-century Turkish translators Year of birth uncertain