Mustafa Halim Özyazıcı (14 January 1898 - 30 September 1964) was an Ottoman

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

and one of the last of the classic Ottoman calligraphers, using the Arabic script. He was a versatile calligrapher with a high level of expertise in many styles of script, but was widely regarded as a master ''

Jeli Thuluth Jeli Thuluth () is a calligraphic variety of Arabic script. This term was applied to writings in Thuluth script when the point of the pen employed was at least one centimeter broad. Jeli Thuluth was used in large panels and for inscriptions carved ...

''. He is most noted for his work on various restoration projects, of both manuscripts and public buildings.

Life and career

Mustafa Halim Ozyazici was born Mustafa Abdülhalim on 14 January 1898 in the Hazeki district of

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 ...

. He was the son of Nalıncı Hacı Cemâl Efendi, a Crimean born-man (of

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

descent) and his mother was Sudanese. He was educated at Gülsen Junior High School, where he was given lessons in calligraphy by

Hamid Aytaç Hamid Aytaç (pronounced Aytach) (b. 1891, Diyarbakır – d. 18 May 1982) was an Islamic calligrapher born during Ottoman times. In his later life, he was acknowledged as the Islamic world's leading calligrapher and was one of the last of the ...

, who recognised his talent and encouraged him to pursue calligraphy as a career. He later studied drawing and sculpture at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

in Istanbul. His formal calligraphy studies were with Hasan Riza Effendi (1849-1920) and Kamil Akdik (1862-1941) where he mastered the '' sülüs,

nesih Naskh is a small, round script of Islamic calligraphy. Naskh is one of the first scripts of Islamic calligraphy to develop, commonly used in writing administrative documents and for transcribing books, including the Qur’an, because of its easy ...

and rikā'' scripts.Bloom J. and Blair, S., ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture,'' Oxford University Press, 2009 Vol. 3, p. 89 In 1916, he was drafted into the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. After completing basic training he worked in the Military Printing Department and also worked in Evkāf-ı İslâmiyye Printing Press. Following his discharge from the Army in 1924, he opened an office in Bâbıâli Street where he prepared all types of calligraphy; business cards, seals and book covers. He also taught in various schools around the

Cağaloğlu Cağaloğlu is a quarter located in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. Much of the publishing industry in Istanbul is located in Cağaloğlu. It is also famous for its ancient hamam, or Turkish bath, known as the Cağaloğlu Hamam. Name The ...

district of Istanbul. From 1927, he was employed in the Imperial Chancery. When the Latin alphabet replaced Arabic lettering in 1928, he applied to go to Egypt, where classical calligraphy, using Arabic script, was still valued, but his application was rejected in 1929. He subsequently abandoned calligraphy altogether. However, during the 1940s, his skills in classical calligraphy found an outlet when he became part of a major restoration project which worked on repairs to numerous manuscripts in a variety of styles and the restoration of calligraphic reliefs and monumental art in historic, public buildings, including many mosques. In 1948, he was appointed to the position of 'old writing teacher' at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul; a position he retained until his retirement in 1963. One of his responsibilities was to write the diplomas for those who were about to graduate from the academy. He died on 30 September 1964, ten days after being involved in a traffic accident. He was buried in the Kozlu Cemetery.

Work

Although he developed expertise in many different types of script, he was regarded as a master of ''celi-sulus'' script. He wrote a number of exercise books for students to practice scripts in

, sulus-nesih, rik'a, dı̂vânı̂ and celı̂ dı̂vâni, and which were part of a program designed to promote the art of calligraphy. These books are still being printed and distributed to students of calligraphy.

Legacy

He is the subject of a book by M. Uğur Derman entitled, ''Hattat Mustafa Halim Özyazıcı (1898-1964)'' published in 1964.M. Uğur Derman, ''Hattat Mustafa Halim Özyazıcı (1898-1964)'', Istanbul, Kemal Matbaası, 1964 (in Turkish)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozyazici, Mustafa Halim Calligraphers from the Ottoman Empire 1898 births 1964 deaths 20th-century artists from the Ottoman Empire Road incident deaths in Turkey Turkish people of Crimean Tatar descent Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University alumni Turkish people of Sudanese descent

Life and career

Work

Legacy

See also

References