Peyami Safa

Peyami Safa
Peyami Safa
Born	(1899-04-02)April 2, 1899 Fatih,Istanbul,Ottoman Empire
Died	June 15, 1961(1961-06-15)(aged 62) Kadıköy,Istanbul, Turkey
Pen name	Server Bedi·Çömez·Serâzâd·Safiye Peyman·Bedia Servet
Occupation	Writer·journalist
Nationality	Turkish
Period	1910–1961
Notable works	Cingöz Recai
Spouse	Nebahat Erinç ​ (m.1938)​
Children	Merve Safa

Peyami Safa(April 2, 1899 – June 15, 1961) was aTurkishjournalist, columnist and novelist. He came to the fore in theTurkish literatureof theRepublicanera with his psychological works such asDokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu(Ninth External Ward). He reflected his life and his changes to his works. He wrote many novels under the pseudonymServer Bedi.He created the typeCingöz Recaiinspired byArsène Lupinof the French writerMaurice Leblanc.He also worked as a journalist at various institutions and published several magazines such as Kültür Haftası with his brother İlhami Safa.

The poetTevfik Fikretnamed him when he was born. After he lost his father at a young age, he lived under difficult conditions with his mother and brother. Bone tuberculosis appeared on the right arm. He processed his psychology in those years in his autobiographical novel, Ninth External Ward. He gave his first literary products during his education inVefa High School.He worked as a teacher for a short time. The stories he published under the titleStories of the Centurydrew attention and received encouraging reactions. He entered pen quarrels with prominent literary writers of the period. He experienced various changes by exhibitingpositivist,materialist,mystical,nationalist,conservative,anti-communistandcorporatistattitudes. With his knowledge ofFrench,he closely followed Western culture and innovations. In his early days, he made translations from names such asMaupassantandRousseau.He always choseIstanbulas the venue for his later works and never gave up the synthesis and analysis of the East and the West. He published articles with critical style in newspapers such asMilliyet.His good relationships withNâzım HikmetandNecip Fazıl Kısakürekturned into pen fights over time. At first, he became closer to theRepublican People's Party,then to theDemocrat Party.

He continued his literary life, which he started at a young age, until his death. He was mainlynationalistandconservative.TheMinistry of National Educationrecommended his two books for secondary school students.His works were also adapted to the cinema and series in various periods.

Life

Early life

A childhood photo of Peyami Safa (1913)

Peyami Safa was born on April 2, 1889, in Gedikpaşa and named after Tevfik Fikret, one of the poets ofServet-i Fünûn.His father is İsmail Safa, who was referred to as a "mother-born poet" byMuallim Naciand belonging to a family ofTrabzonorigin. Her mother is Server Bedia Hanım. Peyami Safa's father was one of the opponents ofAbdülhamid IIand died inSivaswhile in exile without leaving anything financial to his family.Peyami Safa, who lost his father when he was one and a half years old, was brought up by his mother under hard conditions with his brother Ilhami Safa. During his primary education, bone tuberculosis appeared in his right arm. Due to his illness, he could not attend school and found himself among doctors, patients and caregivers at a young age. He influenced the effect of this disease in his work,Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu.

He started his high school education inVefa High SchoolinFatihin 1910.During these years, he was a classmate with Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi andElif Naci.AlsoHasan Âli YücelandYusuf Ziya Ortaçwere among their high school friends. He gave his first literary discussions and products in those years. He wrote his first story essayPiano Teachingand his first novel essayEski Dostin high school. In addition, the first story book titledDon't Take This Book,which he published during these periods, aroused curiosity and sold out within a few days.He could not continue his high school education due to his illness and his family's livelihood problems.He developed the knowledge ofFrenchby memorizingPetit Larousse,a gift from his father's close friends,Abdullah Cevdet,and began to be interested inmedicine,psychologyandphilosophybooks besides literary works. Due to his interest in thetheaterin the future, he took theDârülbedayiexams but could not continue despite his success. During the times ofthe First World War,he started working in the Post Office to help his mother.Later, he was appointed as a teacher to the Rehber-i İttihad School in Boğaziçi (1917) and worked for a while in theDüyûn-ı Umûmiye Administration(1918).

Armistice and the Republican Era

These stories then gained a great success among the public, which still amazed me. The young literature of that time encouraged me fervently, asking me to sign my stories.Yakup Kadrisays, "You brought us a style,"Yahya Kemalsaid, "Peyami is the most beautiful work of Ismail Safa".

— Peyami Safa, after his stories, which he published under the titleYüzyılın Hikâyeleri( "Stories of the Century" ), attracted attention.

Peyami Safa, who left his teaching position at the Rehber-i İttihad School during the armistice period in 1918, started publishing the newspaperTwentieth Century(Yirminci Yüzyıl) with his brother. In this newspaper, he drew attention with the stories he published under the heading "Stories of the Century". He also made his first pen fight against Cenap Şahabettin's adaptation play (1919). When he received a degree in the story contest organized byAlemdarnewspaper, he was encouraged to write by the leading writers of the period. AfterYirminci Yüzyılwas closed, they continued to work for other newspapers such asTercüman-ı HakikatandTasvîr-i Efkâr(1922) after the declaration of the Republic. Safa was one of the contributors of the women's magazineSüsbetween 1923 and 1924.In addition, he published his first novel,Sözde Kızlar(So-called Girls), for his livelihood. By 1924, He published his several works includingMahşer,Bir Gece(One Evening),Süngülerin Gölgesinde(In the Shadow of the Bayonets) andIstanbul Hikayeleri(the Stories of Istanbul). In 1925, he published a short-lived newspaper calledBüyük Yolwith Halil Lütfü Dördüncü. Also in these years, he wrote inCumhuriyetnewspaper with the signature of "Server Bedi" and "Peyami Safa". He went on his relationship with the newspaper as a columnist and literature manager (1928-1940). His article titled "New Literary Circles" published inHilal-i Ahmermagazine led to a pencil fight withAhmet Haşim(1928).

In 1933 he dedicated a column for theincident in Razgrad.

In the early years, under the influence ofAbdullah Cevdet,he wrote articles inIjtihadmagazine with positivist and materialist thoughts. In particular, he participated in the discussion between Abdullah Cevdet and Celal Nuri Ileri. During the period of Armistice, he generally gave both a westernist and a nationalist appearance. He approached Turkish Letter Revolution, which took place during the time ofMustafa Kemal Atatürk,anxiously considering that it would cause cultural disconnections between generations, but in the following periods he became one of the complementary of this revolution and participated in language congresses.

Relations with Nazım Hikmet

Nâzım Hikmet

WhenNâzım Hikmetreturned to Turkey benefiting from the amnesty law, Safa published a poem entitled "Volcano", written by Nazım for the forgiveness of him inCumhuriyet.The next day,Cumhuriyetpublished a statement that the signature under the poem did not reflect its own views and missions. After this announcement, Safa left the newspaper and started writing in the journalResimli Ay,published bySabiha SertelandZekeriya Sertel.Nâzım Hikmet,Sabahattin Ali,Vâlâ Nureddin andCevat Şakir Kabaağaçlıwere among the most well-known contributors of this magazine. [Peyami Safa and Nâzım Hikmet worked together in the journalHareketin the following periods. The friendship between them continued with Peyami Safa's dedication toDokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu,to Nâzım Hikmet. Nâzım Hikmet, on the other hand, used the following expressions about the novel inResimli Ayby referring toReşat Nuri Güntekin'sÇalıkuşu:

I have read this last novel of Peyami three times. I can read and read thirty times more... It is not possible for those who cry toÇalıkuşuto understandDokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu.It would be sold by ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million; if they knew how to read and write the self and pure masses of people who heard the anguish, torment and joy with great enthusiasm.

Safa published an article entitledVarız Diyen Nesil(The Generation who says We Exist) in the first issue of the journalHareket.Although it reflected the views of young literary writers and the new generation, it was criticized by Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu inMilliyet,the famous pencil fight calledSaman Ekmeği Kavgası(The Fight of Straw Bread) started in the history of Turkish press. Safa was accused of beingBolshevikfor participating in the discussions titledPutları Yıkıyoruz(We Are Destroying the Idols), which started inResimli Ay,together with Nâzım Hikmet and writing articles in the left-wing newspaperTan.But he always denied these allegations. The friendship of the two continued after the closing ofResimli Ay.In time, Nâzım Hikmet's desire to bring him tocommunismand as a result of his efforts to discourage Nâzım Hikmet from this ideology, this friendship turned into a great hostility.Nâzım Hikmet accused Peyami Safa in his article titledCoffee and Casino Intellectualswritten inTanunder the pseudonym Orhan Selim. Peyami Safa also responded to Nâzım Hikmet under the series titledBiraz Aydınlıkin the magazineHafta,which he published with his brother. From this point on, Peyami Safa adopted an anti-communist worldview until the end of his life.In the following process, Peyami Safa's works with the signature of Server Bedi andCingöz Recaityping became the main subject of the discussions between the two.

Death

The grave of the Safa family in Edirnekapı Cemetery

He died on June 15, 1961, in Istanbul at the age of 62 after couple of months his son Merve died, as he was serving his time in the military. Peyami Safa was laid to rest at theEdirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery.He was the editor-in-chief of the dailySon Havadisas he died.

Literary life

Most of his novels were created before 1940. In these novels, he stressed on the west-east conflict in the Turkish society during the early years of theTurkish Republic.His novelDokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşugained much interest. In 1931, he wrote his only historical novel aboutAttila the Hun.Besides these novels, he wrote many serial stories and novels in newspapers, among them inCumhuriyetandMilliyet,under the pseudonym "Server Bedii". Some of these are about agentleman thiefnamed Cingöz Recai.Safa also contributed to theYedigünmagazineandSerdengeçtimagazine.

Academic studies about Peyami Safa by years in Turkey (1984-2016)

Bibliography

He wrote 15 novels, excluding those written under pseudonym. He also wrote 17 non-fictions and 9 textbooks mostly about literature.

• Şimşek (1923) (Lightning)
• Sözde Kızlar (1923) (So-called Girls)
• Mahşer (1924) (Armageddon)
• Bir Akşamdı (1924) (It Was an Evening)
• Süngülerin Gölgesinde (1924) (In Shadow of Bayonets)
• Bir Genç Kız Kalbinin Cürmü (1925) (The Crime of a Young Girl's Heart)
• Canan (1925)
• Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu(1930) (Ninth External Ward)
• Fatih-Harbiye (1931)
• Atilla (1931)
• Bir Tereddüdün Romanı (1933) (The Novel of a Hesitation)
• Matmazel Noraliya'nın Koltuğu (1949) (The Armchair of Mademoiselle Noraliya)
• Yalnızız (1951) (We Are Alone)
• Biz İnsanlar (1959) (We People)

Play

• Gün Doğuyor (1932) (The Day Is Coming)

Other works

• Cumhuriyet Mekteplerine Alfabe (1929) (Alphabet to Republic Schools)
• Cumhuriyet Mekteplerine Kıraat (1929) (Reading to Republican Schools)
• Yeni Talebe Mektupları (1930) (New Student Letters)
• Büyük Mektup Nümuneleri (1932) (Great Letter Examples)
• Türk İnkılâbına Bakışlar (1938) (Perspectives on Turkish Revolution)
• Büyük Avrupa Anketi (1938) (Great Europe Survey)
• Felsefî Buhran (1939) (Philosophical Crisis)
• Türk Grameri (1941) (Turkish Grammar)
• Fransız Grameri (1942) (French Grammar) (It was expanded in 1948 as "Türkçe İzahlı Fransız Grameri" )
• Millet ve İnsan (1943) (Nation and Human) (It was expanded in 1961 as "Nasyonalizm")
• Mahutlar (1959)
• Mistisizm(1961)
• Sosyalizm(1961)
• Doğu-Batı Sentezi (1963) (East-West Synthesis)
• Objektif Serisi (8 Books) (1970–1976) (Objective Series)
• Hikâyeler (1980) (Stories)

External links

• Media related toPeyami Safaat Wikimedia Commons