Refik Halit Karay (15 March 1888 – 18 July 1965) 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 and mi ...

educator, writer and journalist.

Biography

He was born in Beylerbeyi, İstanbul, on 14 March 1888. His parents were Mehmed Halid Bey and Nefise Ruhsar Hanım. After studying at

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

and Istanbul University Faculty of Law, he briefly served in the Ministry of Finance of the Ottoman Empire. During the

Second Constitutional Era The Second Constitutional Era ( ota, ایكنجی مشروطیت دورى; tr, İkinci Meşrutiyet Devri) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the G ...

in 1908 he resigned from his post and published a short-living newspaper. He also wrote in literary periodicals. Being an opponent of the

Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...

he was exiled to several cities in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

. After returning to İstanbul he wrote mainly on Anatolian life style. He was a pioneer in Anatolian based literature. He attended the

Freedom and Accord Party The Freedom and Accord Party ( ota, حریت و ایتلاف فرقه‌سی, Hürriyet ve İtilaf Fırkası, script=Arab), also known as the Liberal Union or the Liberal Entente, was a liberal Ottoman political party active between 1911 and 1913, ...

. During the reign of the Freedom and Accord Party he served as the teacher of Literature in Robert College and then the General Director of

Turkish PTT PTT, an abbreviation for (lit. Post and Telegraph Agency), is the national post and telegraph directorate of Turkey. Formerly, the organization was named . After the privatization of the telephone telecommunications service business, the dire ...

. He published a periodical named '' Aydede'' and was one of the contributors of '' Kalem'', a political satire magazine between 1908 and 1911. In addition, he served as the editor-in-chief of another political satire magazine, '' Cem'', between 1910 and 1912. Karay opposed 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 ...

and at the end of the war he escaped to Beirut and Aleppo. In 1938 after the amnesty law he returned to Turkey. He resumed his writing career and wrote a number of novels. He died on 18 July 1965.Who's who page
He was buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in Istanbul.

Works

Novels

The following are his novels Literature teacher
/ref>Biography page
/ref> *1920 ''İstanbul’ın İçyüzü'' (Lowdown of İstanbul) *1939 ''Yezidin Kızı'' (Daughter of Yezid) *1939 ''Çete'' (Gang) *1941 ''Sürgün'' (Exile) *1947 ''Anahtar'' (Key) *1950 ''Bu Bizim Hayatımız'' (This is Our Life) *1952 ''Nilgün'' *1953 ''Yeraltında Dünya Var'' (World Underground) *1953 ''Dişi Örümcek'' (Female spider) *1954 ''Bugünün Saraylısı'' (Royalty of today) *1954 ''2000 Yılın Sevgilisi'' (Sweetheart of the year 2000) *1955 ''İki Cisimli kadın'' (Two character woman) *1955 ''Kadınlar Tekkesi'' (Khanqah of Women) *1956 ''Karlı Dağdaki Ateş'' (Fire in the Snowy Mountain) *1957 ''Dört Yapraklı Yonca'' (Four leaf clover) *1965 ''Sonuncu Kadeh'' (Last chalice) *1971 ''Yerini Seven Fidan'' (Sapling which loved its place) *1980 ''Ekmek Elden Su Gölden'' (Life of Ease) *1980 ''Ayın Ondördü'' (Fourteenth of lunar month) *1981 ''Yüzen Bahçe'' (Floating garden) :(The last novels were published after his death)

Short story and humour

:The following are his short story books: *1919 Memleket Hikayeleri (Stories from the homeland) *1940 Gurbet Hikayeleri (Stories from foreign lands) :The following are his humour books: *1915: Sakın Aldanma İnanma Kanma (Never be deceived, be fooled, believe) *1918: Kirpinin Dedikleri (What the hedgehog says) *1918: Agop Paşa’nın Hatıraları (The memoirs of Agap Paşa) *1922 Ay Peşinde (After the Moon) *1922 Tanıdıklarım (Friend) *1925 Guguklu Saat (Cuckoo clock)

Biography

Works

Novels

Short story and humour

References

Further reading