AHMET MUHİP DIRANAS BİYOGRAFİSİ
Ahmet Muhip DIRANAS who is one of the republican Turkish poets is identified with Sinop. His father came from Sinop and his mother was from Istanbul. The place and date of his birth are uncertain. In some sources, it’s written that he was born in Istanbul; on the other hand there are others mentioning that his birth place is Sinop. His father took part in Ottoman Army during the Balkan War and World War I .During the first years of World War I, he was in Gallipoli with his father. In the upcoming days, he returned to Istanbul with his mother and sister who was born in Gallipoli. After Gallipoli, his father fought at Caucasia and Arabian Deserts. At the end of the war, he did not return to Istanbul, he made his second marriage and settled in his father’s village in Sinop. Those days Ahmet Muhip was 10 years-old. That period of his life passed with jealousy between his mother and second wife of his father. Finally his father left his second wife and moved to Sinop with his first wife and children. During the years of his primary education up to the third grade in Sinop, Ahmet Muhip became a lover of nature. So his poetries and articles carry the traces of this love.
When Ahmet Muhip Dıranas was in Sinop as a child, Anatolia was under occupation and National Struggle was continuing. In these years, when his father was reconscripted, A.Muhip Dıranas who witnessed Sinop’s bombing by enemy vessels, went to Ankara with his family by passing Inebolu. In the spring of 1922, during his journey together with tumbrels carrying weapons and troops to Ankara he deeply felt the National Struggle spirit. Ahmet Muhip Dıranas lived the happiness of National Independece in Ankara where the large part of his youth passed. He studied secondary and high school at the Boy’s high school known as ‘Taş Mektep’. During the high school years, he was the student of famous writers such as Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar. His first poetries were published with Muhip Atalay signature during high school years. His first poetries were published along with “İçtihad” and “Milli Mecmua”. During these years, his literature teacher Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar who affected the literature of Ankara gave him the poetry book of a French writer, and subsequently with this book Dıranas acknowledged with Baudelaire and was affected by this French poet enormously. He published a 3-page journal called “Hep Gençlik” in 1929 with the help of Kutsi Tecer working as a mining engineer and Samet Ağaoğlu being his high school friend. His poems were also published by a journal called “Sesimiz” which had been published since 1930 by Ankara High School for Boys. In these poetries, he used Muhip Atalay signature. He published his poems with the name of “Derviş” in the classroom newspaper called “Bizim Gazete”.
Uyanış” was one of the journals that published his poems in those years but he achieved popularity with his poetries which were published in journal “Görüş”. He graduated from Ankara High School in 1931 and he worked at Newspaper “Hakimiyet-i Milliye” between the years 1930 – 1932. He attended Faculty of Law in Ankara but two years later he gave up. Then he moved to Istanbul for a university degree of Philosophy at Istanbul University. However, he didn’t complete his education there. He believed that his literary life actually began in Istanbul. He attended Faculty of Literature while working as a library manager at Faculty of Fine Arts and then he worked as an assistant manager at Dolmabahçe State Art and Sculpture Museum. He was a Picture Collector and liked drawing pictures. He translated a book of Adolf Basler with Cahit Sıtkı TARANCI and this book was published by Academy of Fine Arts Publication in 1937.
A. Dıranas who was also a member of literal group consisting of Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, Orhan Veli Kanık, Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Baki Süha Edipoğlu and Şevket Radon improved his French and was interested in French and Russian Literature steadily.
He moved to Ankara in 1938 and he worked at “Halkevleri / Community Centre” between 1938 – 1942. He wrote the articles for the “1st Amateur Painting and Photography Exhibition” which was held by “Halkevleri / Community Centre” in 1941.
Ahmet Muhip Dıranas married Emine ÜLKER in 1940 and he published a one-act play “ Üç Kahraman” in 1942 which was about National Struggle and was adapted from French. It was acted by Ankara Radyosu.
He served in the army, from1942 to 1944, in Doğubeyazıt, Ağrı and he wrote his poem “Ağrı” and the play “Gölgeler” when he was in military base. “Gölgeler” was acted by İstanbul Şehir Tiyatrosu in 1946. This play won the second prize of “ CHP Play Contest” in 1947 and “Gölgeler” was published in Art and Literature newspaper. He also wrote the play “O Böyle İstemezdi” in 1947.
After doing his military service, Dıranas started to work at Social Services and Child Protection Agency and his translations were published between the years 1940 – 1962. He engaged in politics and wrote daily articles for newspaper Zafer which was a supporter of Demokrat Parti in 1949. However, he left his job to take part in the elections. He was candidate of Sinop as a member of parliament, but he won neither the elections in 1950 nor the next one. So, he returned to his previous job as a journalist and became a member of Literal Committee in 1951. He worked at various positions in Child Protection Agency. He gave speeches about literature and read poems on Ankara Radio and also was provincial council and did aldermanship in 1950s.
Ahmet Muhip Dıranas married Emine ÜLKER in 1940 and he published a one-act play “ Üç Kahraman” in 1942 which was about National Struggle and was adapted from French. It was acted by Ankara Radyosu.
He served in the army, from1942 to 1944, in Doğubeyazıt, Ağrı and he wrote his poem “Ağrı” and the play “Gölgeler” when he was in military base. “Gölgeler” was acted by İstanbul Şehir Tiyatrosu in 1946. This play won the second prize of “ CHP Play Contest” in 1947 and “Gölgeler” was published in Art and Literature newspaper. He also wrote the play “O Böyle İstemezdi” in 1947.
After 27 May revolution, he was unemployed for a while and had financial problems. After 1964 he began publishing his poetry in Hisar journal. He also continued to publish newspaper articles until 1962 and he was a deputy candidate of Sinop in the general elections in 1965 for the last time but he was not selected again.
In 1964, after the publication of the poem “Testi” in which he depicted himself as a broken pitcher, he started Board Membership of Türkiye İş Bankası with the support of his friends and he was retired in 1972. His membership in the Board of The State Theatre Literature continued until he died. Ahmet Muhip Dıranas didn’t publish any poetry books for many years. His poems were published by İş Bank Culture Publications with the name of “Şiirler” in 1974.
His poems simplified by Tevfik Fikret were published in 1975 with the name of “Kırık Saz”. He changed the name of his theatre play “O böyle İstemezdi” and gave the name “Çıkmaz” and then combined with “Gölgeler”, it was released with the title “ Oyunlar” in 1977 by İş Bank Culture Publications. His newspaper and journal articles were published with the name of “ Yazılar” in 1994 after his death.
Ahmet Muhip Dıranas spent most of his life in Ankara and he was in Sinop in summer months. For this purpose, he built a frame house, in the village of his father in Sinop in 1960. In those years that house was located in the territory of the Salı village of Erfelek. Since 1993, it is located in the village of Karaoğlu diverging from Salı village. Ahmet Muhip Dıranas who died on 21 June 1980 in Ankara, was buried in Sinop by will of him.
His poems, mostly written with Syllabic meter have an importance of Euphony and harmony, and also have major themes of love, loneliness, sadness, escape, death, love of nature, love of life and love of country. The well-known poem “Fahriye Abla” was filmed by Yavuz Turgul in 1984, besides; Olvido, Kar, Serenad, Selâm, Ağrı poems may be referred as his remarkable poems.
His love for Sinop and his writings on Sinop have enshrined in people’s heart and so his name was given to Sinop University Tourism and Hospitality Management School’s Practice Hotel which was opened by our Minister of Youth and Sports ,Suat KILIÇ, with an official ceremony on Wednesday,17 April 2013.