Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar – a man of melancholy

The name and fame of Ahmed Hamdi Tanpınar, regarded as one of the most important Turkish poets and novelists of the twentieth century, have now spread far and wide, with the result that some of his works have been translated into many languages. Tanpınar’s life spanned the first six decades of the twentieth century, and he witnessed the enormous political, economic and social changes that resulted both from the defeat of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the First World War as well as the establishment of the new Republic, after the armies under Mustafa Kemal Pasha [later Atatürk] regained full control of the area of modern Turkey. However, success came somewhat late to Tanpınar and, although he became a professor and his works attracted attention and praise, his personal life–as well as his finances–lagged behind. In spite of a great desire to get married and have a family, he died a bachelor. In the final years of his life he began labelling himself ‘a man of melancholy’. The aim of the present article is to provide insight into Tanpınar’s life and works, and his cultural milieu.