Attilâ İlhan facts for kids

Attilâ İlhan (born June 15, 1925 – died October 10, 2005) was a famous Turkish poet, novelist, essayist, journalist, and reviewer. He was known for his unique writing style and his thoughts on Turkish society and culture.

Early Life and School Days

Attilâ İlhan was born in Menemen, a town in İzmir Province, Turkey, on June 15, 1925. He spent most of his early school years in İzmir. Because his father's job required moving, he finished junior high school in different cities.

When he was 16, and studying at İzmir Atatürk High School, he got into trouble. He sent a poem by Nazım Hikmet, a well-known Turkish poet, to a girl he liked. This led to his arrest and he was held for three weeks. He was also removed from school and spent two months in jail. After this, Attilâ İlhan was not allowed to attend any schools in Turkey for a while.

In 1941, a court decision allowed him to continue his education. He then enrolled in Istanbul Işık High School. During his last year of high school, his uncle secretly entered one of his poems into a competition. The poem, Cebbaroğlu Mehemmed, won second prize, even against poems by very famous writers. He finished high school in 1942 and started studying law at Istanbul University. However, he left university early to focus on his own writing. He then published his first poetry book, called Duvar (meaning The Wall).

Time in Paris

During his second year at Istanbul University, Attilâ İlhan traveled to Paris, France. He went there to support Nazım Hikmet, the poet who had caused him trouble earlier. His time in Paris, observing French culture and people, greatly influenced many of his later works.

After returning to Turkey, he often faced difficulties with the police. These tough experiences influenced his writings, especially those about serious topics like death. Even though his first poems didn't show this tension, he later wrote poems that looked back at or criticized those difficult times.

Attilâ İlhan mentioned that his friends gave him the nickname "Captain" after he grew a beard while in Paris. His poem "The Captain," which had five parts, also helped make this nickname popular.

Return to Istanbul and Writing Career

In 1973, Attilâ İlhan moved to Ankara to work with Bilgi Publishing House. While in Ankara, he wrote novels like Hyena Share and Rubbing Salt in the Wound. He stayed in Ankara until 1981, then moved back to Istanbul after publishing his novel Bad Halde Leman.

In Istanbul, he became very active in journalism. He wrote for major newspapers like Milliyet (from 1982 to 1987) and Güneş. He also wrote for Meydan newspaper from 1993 to 1996, and then for Cumhuriyet newspaper from 1996 until his death in 2005.

When television became popular in Turkey in the 1970s, Attilâ İlhan also started writing TV scripts. His TV series, such as Headlines on Eight Columns, Eagles Fly High, and Tomorrow is Today, were very popular with viewers.

He wrote 10 novels before his first one, The Man on the Street, was published. He explained that many of his early novels were like personal diaries, describing his own experiences.

Unlike many writers of his time who focused on local events or travel, Attilâ İlhan wrote about city life and the economic and social changes happening in Turkey. He showed the lifestyle of big cities like Istanbul and Izmir. He also explored how Western culture affected Turkey, both positively and negatively, through his characters and the cities he described in Europe.

Istanbul–Paris–Izmir Connection

In 1951, he went back to Paris because of an official investigation related to an article he wrote for the Gerçek newspaper. During this time, he learned to speak French and studied Marxist philosophy, which are ideas about how society and economy should be organized.

In the 1950s, Attilâ İlhan often traveled between Istanbul, Paris, and İzmir. This period helped him become very popular in Turkey. After returning to Turkey, he went back to studying law. However, in his final year, he left university again to become a journalist. He also started his connection with cinema around this time, writing movie reviews for the Vatan newspaper.

Many Talents

After finishing his military service in Erzurum in 1957, İlhan returned to Istanbul and focused on movies. He wrote scripts for almost 15 films using the pen name Ali Kaptanoğlu. However, he felt that cinema wasn't what he expected, so he went back to Paris in 1960. During this visit, he studied the development of socialism and television.

His father's sudden death caused him to return to his hometown of İzmir, where he stayed for eight years. During this time, he worked as an editorial writer and editor-in-chief for the Democratic İzmir newspaper. He also wrote poetry books, Yasak Sevişmek and Bıçağın Ucu, which were part of his Aynanın İçindekiler series.

His Ideas

Attilâ İlhan was a Kemalist (someone who follows the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey) and a socialist (someone who believes in social equality and community ownership). Later in his life, he appeared on TV shows to discuss literature and social issues.

He was a dedicated thinker who believed in a form of communism that also had a strong nationalistic viewpoint. He was an important intellectual figure in Turkey, and his ideas influenced many people. In his book series titled Hangi … (meaning Which …), he questioned the way some Turkish thinkers simply copied Western ideas instead of developing their own.

Personal Life

Attilâ İlhan got married in 1968 and his marriage lasted for 15 years. He was the brother of the famous Turkish actress Çolpan İlhan, who was married to the well-known actor Sadri Alışık.

Death

Attilâ İlhan had his first heart attack in 1985. His heart problems continued after this, and his health worsened from 2004 onwards. He passed away at his home in Istanbul on October 10, 2005, at the age of 80, due to a second heart attack.

He received several awards for his work. He won the 2003 Sertel Democracy Award. He also won second place in the 1946 CHP Poetry Competition, the 1974 Turkish Language Association Poetry Award for The Detainee's Diary, and the 1974 Yunus Nadi Novel Gift for Hyena Payı. The Attilâ İlhan Science, Art and Culture Foundation was created in 2007 after his death and continues to promote his legacy.

List of Works

Poems

• Duvar (The Wall)
• Sisler Bulvarı (Boulevard of Mists)
• Yağmur Kaçağı (Escapee from Rain)
• Ben Sana Mecburum (Compelled to You)
• Bela Çiçeği (Trouble Flower)
• Yasak Sevişmek (Forbidden Love)
• Tutuklunun Günlüğü (A Prisoner's Diary)
• Böyle Bir Sevmek (Loving Like This)
• Elde Var Hüzün (Grief Remains)
• Korkunun Krallığı (Kingdom of Fear)
• Ayrılık Sevdaya Dahil (Parting is in Love)
• Allende Allende
• Pia

Novels

• Sokaktaki Adam (The Man on the Street)
• Zenciler Birbirine Benzemez (Black Men Don't Look Alike)
• Kurtlar Sofrası (Feast of Wolves)
• Bıçağın Ucu (Tip of the Knife)
• Sırtlan Payı (Hyena's Share)
• Yaraya Tuz Basmak (Salting the Wound)
• Dersaadet'te Sabah Ezanları (Morning Adhans in the Abode of Felicity (Istanbul))
• O Karanlıkta Biz (Us in That Darkness)
• Fena Halde Leman (Desperately Leman)
• Haco Hanım Vay (Haco Hanım Wow)
• Allah'ın Süngüleri "Reis Paşa" (Bayonets of God "Reis Pasha")

Essays

• Abbas Yolcu
• Yanlış Kadınlar Yanlış Erkekler (Wrong Women Wrong Men)
• Hangi Sol (Which Left)
• Hangi Sağ (Which Right)
• Hangi Batı (Which West)
• Hangi Atatürk (Which Atatürk)
• Hangi Edebiyat (Which Literature)
• Hangi Laiklik (Which Laisism)
• Hangi Küreselleşme (Which Globalization)
• Gerçekçilik Savaşı (War of Reality)
• İkinci Yeni Savaşı (War of the Second New)
• Faşizmin Ayak Sesleri (Footsteps of Fascism)
• Batının Deli Gömleği (The Straitjacket of the West)
• Sağım Solum Sobe (My Right my Left, Sobe!)
• Ulusal Kültür Savaşı (National Culture War)
• Sosyalizm Asıl Şimdi (Socialism Now)
• Aydınlar Savaşı (War of Intellectuals)
• Kadınlar Savaşı (War of Women)
• Bir Sap Kırmızı Karanfil (A Red Carnation Stalk)
• Ufkun Arkasını Görebilmek (To See Beyond the Horizon)

Short stories

• Yengecin Kıskacı (Crab's Pincer)

Translations

• "Kanton'da İsyan" (The Conquerors by André Malraux)
• "Umut" (Man's Hope by André Malraux)
• "Basel'in Çanları" (The Bells of Basel by Louis Aragon)