Mehmed Nâzım Ran, known as Nâzım Hikmet, began his life in 1902 in Thessaloniki, later emerging as a central figure in modern Turkish literature. His professional life spanned roles as a screenwriter, playwright, librettist, and poet, eventually seeing his work translated into more than 50 languages throughout his career as an internationally read literary voice.
Early Education and Naval Service
Hikmet attended Taşmektep Primary School and Galatasaray High School before graduating from the Ottoman Naval School on Heybeliada in 1918. He served briefly on the cruiser Hamidiye. Due to a serious illness in 1919, he did not fully recover, which led to his exemption from further naval service in 1920.
Political Development and Education in Moscow
In 1921, Hikmet traveled to Ankara to join the Turkish liberation movement. After a brief period teaching in Bolu, he moved to Batumi in 1921 and eventually to Moscow in 1922. There, he studied economics and sociology at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, where he was exposed to the ideological influence of Vladimir Lenin and the artistic styles of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold.
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Hikmet faced numerous charges for his political writings and advocacy for ethnic minorities. Following an acquittal in 1931, he was imprisoned multiple times, including sentences in 1933 and 1934 related to his books. His most significant sentencing occurred in 1938 when he received a total sentence of 28 years and 4 months for inciting military mutiny and spreading socialist principles. He served time in prisons across Ankara, Çankırı, Bursa, and Istanbul.
Exile and Later Years
International protests from figures such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, combined with local hunger strikes, led to his release in 1950. On 17 June 1951, he escaped to the region where he had studied. Following this departure, the Turkish government stripped him of his citizenship on 25 July 1951. He remained abroad until his death in Moscow in 1963, where he was eventually buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Fast facts
- Born: 1902, Thessaloniki
- Died: 1963, Moscow
- Citizenship: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Poland
- Education: Turkish Naval High School, Communist University of the Toilers of the East
- Languages: Turkish, Russian, Persian, Arabic, Ottoman Turkish
- Burial: Novodevichy Cemetery
- Major Sentencing: 28 years and 4 months in 1938
Questions readers ask
What subjects did Nâzım Hikmet study in Moscow?
He studied economics and sociology at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East.
Why was Hikmet imprisoned in 1938?
He was found guilty of inciting military mutiny and spreading communist principles within the armed forces.
When did Hikmet lose his Turkish citizenship?
The Turkish government stripped him of his citizenship on 25 July 1951.
Achievements
- Introduced free verse to Turkish poetry, breaking with centuries of fixed metrical tradition
- Composed the sprawling verse epic Human Landscapes from My Country
- Became the most internationally translated Turkish poet, read in dozens of languages
- Wrote enduring lyric poems including 'On Living' and works addressed to his homeland from exile
