Sabahattin Ali

Writer

• Born: February 25, 1907
• Birthplace: Eğridere, Bulgaria (now Ardino, Bulgaria)
• Died: April 2, 1948
• Place of death: Bulgarian border with Turkey

Education: School of Education in Balıkesir; School of Education in Istanbul

Significance: A prominent Turkish author and outspoken political critic of Kemal Atatürk, Sabahattin Ali was jailed and eventually murdered due to his political opinions in a country under immense change.

Background

Sabahattin Ali was born in 1907, in the town of Eğridere, which is now called Ardino, in southern Bulgaria. Living under the Ottoman Empire, Ali’s father moved around greatly due to work and financial difficulties, and he grew up in various cities, including Istanbul, Çanakkale, and Edremit. During his college years, he started his education at the School of Education in Balıkesir but finished at the School of Education in Istanbul, graduating in 1926. During all this, Turkey became an independent country in 1923.

While attending school, Ali was encouraged by friends to send his poems to newspapers and magazines. At the School of Education in Istanbul, Ali met the Turkish poet, politician, and educator Ali Canip Yöntem, who took a great interest in his work. Yöntem helped Ali to develop his writing, and upon graduation, Ali started to get published in several major journals. His first published poem was about the death of his father in 1927.

After graduation, Ali became an educator in Yozgat, Turkey, for one year. Turkey’s Ministry of National Education then awarded him a fellowship and he was given leave to study in Germany from 1928 to 1930. Upon his return, he started teaching the German language in high schools in the cities of Aydın and Konya.

Writing and Imprisonment

Influenced by his mentor Ali Canip Yöntem’s beliefs, Ali began to publish works that were political in nature and unfortunately drew the attention of the newly elected Mustafa Kemal (later known as Kemal Atatürk) regime after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. While teaching German in Konya, Ali published a poem that criticized Atatürk’s policies and also rose libelous accusations against two other journalists. When word of the poem’s publication spread, Ali was sentenced to a prison in Konya and lost his teaching position. After serving several months in Konya, Ali was transferred to the Sinop Fortress Prison to serve out the rest of his sentence. Fortunately for Ali, he was granted amnesty in 1933 in a symbolic gesture that was meant to mark the tenth anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and celebrate Atatürk’s regime.

As soon as Ali was given amnesty, he applied to become reinstated as an educator through the Ministry of National Education. As a part of his reinstatement process, Ali was forced to write the poem "Benim aşkım," which can be translated as "My Love" or "My Passion." This poem affirmed his loyalty to Atatürk and allowed him to be employed by the Ministry of National Education. He was assigned to the ministry’s publications division, where he edited the popular weekly newspaper called Marko Pasha along with his friend and colleague Aziz Nesin.

While working for the Ministry of National Education, Ali was conscripted for his compulsory military service in 1936. Upon his return from the military, he found a job as a German teacher at Ankara State Conservatory and published the novel İçimizdeki şeytan (The devil within us), which received wide critical acclaim, especially among Turkish nationalists. He then followed that up with Kürk mantolu Madonna (Madonna in a Fur Coat), which is considered his most important work.

Soon after Ali wrote a satire of Atatürk, which sent him to jail once again. He was imprisoned for several years before being released in 1944, at which point he was unable to find steady employment and suffered severe financial troubles. He was also unable to get a passport; his application was denied because of his transgressions against the Turkish government. It was during this period that he published "Sırça köşk" (The glass palace), a short story that was highly critical of Atatürk’s regime.

Jobless and unable to legally get out of Turkey to find work, Ali paid a smuggler named Ali Ertekin to sneak him across the Bulgarian border. Ali was killed during his journey and there are two theories about how he died. The first is that Ertekin, after learning who Ali was, killed him in a fit of patriotism. The more likely theory, however, is that Ertekin, who was connected with the National Security Service, turned Ali over to the National Security Service. It is widely believed that he was killed during interrogation due to his political opinions. Although he was killed on the first or second of April 1948, his body was not found until June 16, 1948.

Impact

Although not widely known in the West, Ali is considered a prominent Turkish author. His one hundredth birthday was celebrated in 2007 in Ardino, Bulgaria, the city of his birth. His work Madonna in a Fur Coat was recently translated into English and was published on May 5, 2016.

Personal Life

Ali married Aliye Ali on May 16, 1935. The couple had one daughter, Filiz.

Principal Works: Short Fiction

• "Değirmen" (Mill) (1935)
• "Kağnı" (Oxcart) (1936)
• "Ses" (Voice) (1937)
• "Yeni dünya" (New world) (1943)
• "Sırça köşk" (The glass palace) (1947)

Principal Works: Long Fiction

• Kuyucaklı Yusuf (Yusuf of Kuyucak) (1937)
• İçimizdeki şeytan (The devil within us) (1940)
• Kürk mantolu Madonna (Madonna in a Fur Coat) (1943)

Bibliography

Freely, Maureen. "Sabahattin Ali’s Madonna in a Fur Coat—The Surprise Turkish Bestseller." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 May 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

Kirby, Emma Jane. "The Mysterious Woman Who Inspired a Bestselling Novel." BBC. BBC, 8 May 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

"Slain Turkish Writer’s Book Brought Back to Life." Hürriyet Daily News. Doğan Media Group, 1 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

"Turkish Language and Literature." Turkish Cultural Foundation. Turkish Cultural Foundation, 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.