Sermet Erkin (born 1957) is a well-known Turkish

stage magician Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

, journalist and former theatre actor.

Early years

Sermet Erkin was born in

Karamürsel Karamürsel is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 262 km2, and its population is 59,676 (2022). It is on the south coast of the Gulf of İzmit. Before its conquest by the Ottoman Empire, ...

town of

Kocaeli Province Kocaeli Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey and one of only three not to have the same official name as its capital, İzmit, which is thus also sometim ...

in 1957. His name was given by the husband of famous singer

Safiye Ayla Safiye Ayla (14 July 1907 – 14 January 1998) was one of the most famous singers of Turkish classical music. Early life She was born on 14 July 1907 in Istanbul. Her father, Mısırlı Hicazîzade Hafız Abdullah Bey of Egypt, died before her b ...

. He had an older brother Mehmet Saffet. Erkin's family moved 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 ...

, to a street in the neighborhood of the renowned stage magician Zati Sungur's home. He was schooled in

Nişantaşı Nişantaşı is a residential quarter in the Şişli district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. Nişantaşı quarter has four neighbourhoods: Teşvikiye, Maçka, Osmanbey and Pangaltı. The centre of the Nişantaşı quarter is at the ...

in 1964. After finishing the high school, he entered

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

's Faculty of Letters. In the beginning, he studied

Turkish Literature Turkish literature () comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language. The Ottoman form of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, was highly influenced by Persian and Arabic literature,Bertold Sp ...

, graduated later from the History of Philosophy Department.

Career

Erkin was interested from his childhood on in all kinds of stage arts in addition to

stage magic A stage illusion is a large-scale magic trick. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illu ...

, he was inspired by Zati Sungur. His acting career began when he joined

Istanbul City Theatres Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality City Theatre ( Turkish: ''Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Şehir Tiyatroları''; Ottoman Turkish: Darülbedayi) The theater was founded in 1934 in the Ottoman Empire period (1914) as Dârülbedayi. It was a t ...

, where he performed in various plays until 1977. He appeared in the children's theatre play ''Karagözcü ile Sihirbaz'' (" Karagöz Player and the Magician"), which was written by Yalçın Akçay specially in respect of Erkin's stage magic skill. The work earned wider attention because it was the first children's play, which debuted with a gala performance. He continued acting on stage a while after forming his own theatre company. Today, he is still in contact with theatre, organizing theatre festivals. Erkin's mentor was Zati Sungur, international recognized Turkish stage magician. At the age of nineteen, he began a professional career in stage magic in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland, where he was on visit to his niece. After a magic show he performed for neighbor's children during the Easter festival, he was discovered by a Swiss variety manager, who arranged a magic show job for him in a well-known night club. After his return home, he continued to perform shows on stage and television. He toured across Turkey, ln European countries and USA. He appeared more than eighteen years in "Kervansaray", a popular night club in Istanbul, where also his wife Nuray performed folk songs. Erkin makes still appearances also for children in schools. From 1976 on, Sermet Erkin wrote columns on children in newspapers ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

'', ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

'', ''

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

'' and '' Günaydın''. Later, he worked as editorial director for a children's magazine.

Family life

In 1986, Sermet Erkin married to Nuray, a folk music singer. They have a son İsmail Sermet and a daughter Piraye Nazlı. He moved to his hometown Karamürsel in 1998.

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erkin, Sermet 1957 births People from Karamürsel Istanbul University alumni Turkish male stage actors Turkish magicians Turkish expatriates in Switzerland Turkish children's writers Turkish journalists Hürriyet people Milliyet people Sabah (newspaper) people Günaydın (newspaper) people Living people