Who is Mehmet Akif Ersoy?

(1873–1936)

Poet of the İstiklâl Marşı, public intellectual, teacher, and exemplary Muslim

Life

Mehmet Akif Ersoy was born on 20 December 1873 in the Fatih district of Istanbul. His father, Tahir Efendi, was of Albanian descent, and his mother was Emine Şerife Hanım from Bukhara. He lost his father at an early age and his home was destroyed by fire; yet despite all hardships, he never abandoned his education or his work.

He originally intended to study Political Science but, obliged to support his family, enrolled in the Halkalı Ziraat ve Baytar Mektebi (Veterinary School) to secure a salaried profession. He graduated from this school with top honors. Due to the demands of his profession, he traveled extensively across Anatolia, gaining firsthand knowledge of villages and their people.

Mehmet Akif also emerged as an educator. He taught literature at Darülfünun (today’s Istanbul University). He was also highly proficient in French, Arabic, and Persian. He learned French through six years of intense study. He admired the leading scientist of his time, Louis Pasteur, whose portrait hung in his room.

Throughout his life, he lived simply. He wore the same clothes for long periods and avoided ostentation. He was a multifaceted personality: a skilled swimmer, a wrestler, and an enthusiast of shot put. He took private lessons from Neyzen Tevfik to learn how to play the ney. He worked up to sixteen hours a day and even while walking, he would jot down poems or ideas in a small notebook he carried in his pocket.

İstiklâl Marşı and the National Struggle

During the National Struggle, he moved to Anatolia and joined the Turkish Grand National Assembly as a deputy from Burdur. He lived in a modest room at the Taceddin Dergâhı. Through powerful speeches delivered in mosques, he called on the people to support the National Struggle. During this time, when he would wrap himself in his coat to keep warm, he visited the front lines and met directly with soldiers to boost their morale.

Initially, he did not enter the İstiklâl Marşı competition opened in 1921 because it offered a prize. When the prize was withdrawn, he wrote the poem from the heart despite having only two liras in his pocket. The poem was adopted by the TBMM as the national anthem on 12 March 1921. Mehmet Akif refused the 500-lira prize and donated the money to the Darülmesai Dikiş Atölyesi.

He never regarded the poem as his personal property. He did not include the İstiklâl Marşı in his poetry collection Safahat, emphasizing: “It is not mine; it belongs to the nation.”

Literary Personality and Works

Mehmet Akif’s literary approach was grounded in writing in the language of the people and for the benefit of society. He composed rational, instructive poems rather than emotional ones. Religion, morality, diligence, solidarity, and love of homeland were his central themes.

His poetry collection Safahat consists of seven volumes and contains a total of 11,000 couplets. This work also serves as a social and cultural portrait of its era.

Books in the Safahat series:

• Safahat (1911)
• Süleymaniye Kürsüsünde (1912)
• Hakkın Sesleri (1913)
• Fatih Kürsüsünde (1914)
• Hatıralar (1917)
• Asım (1924)
• Gölgeler (1933)

References

• Ersoy, Mehmet Akif. Safahat. Istanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2017.
• Türkiye Yazarlar Birliği. “Mehmet Akif Ersoy.” https://www.tyb.org.tr/mehmet-akif-ersoy-3998h.htm
• Ministry of Culture and Tourism. “Mehmet Akif Ersoy.” Kültür Portalı. https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr
• Selma Argon. “Dedem Mehmet Akif.” TRT Belgesel, 2018.

İbrahim Halil Çelik. “İstiklal Marşı’nın Yazılış Hikâyesi.” Türk Düşünce Tarihi Dergisi, 2021.