Namık Kemal

Namik Kemal, actually Mehmed Kemal ( born December 21, 1840 Tekirdag, † December 2, 1888 in Chios), was a Turkish poet and writer who was known for his great influence on the Young Turk movement and the Turkish patriotism and liberalism.

Kemal, who belonged to an aristocratic family, was given as a child private lessons, where he learned Arabic, Persian and French. His language education earned him 1857-1858 the position of an interpreter of the Ottoman government.

His first poems were written in the classical Ottoman style. Later he was influenced by Şinasi, who was impressed by Western ideas and the Western way of life. After Şinasi 1865 had to flee abroad, Kemal took over his job as editor of the newspaper Tasvir -i Efkâr. Soon, Kemal and the co-authors of Tasvir -i Efkâr had to flee because of their political beliefs in the West. There he devoted himself to the study and translation of the works of authors such as Victor Hugo, Jean -Jacques Rousseau and Charles-Louis Montesquieu into Turkish. At times, he also published the newspaper " Hürriyet ". After he allowed his friends and come back from exile, he published the newspaper " ibret " and wrote contributions for 1870 by Teodor Kasap founded satirical magazine Diyojen ( " Diogenes ").

Around this time he wrote his famous play that had the siege Silistras on the topic and was also named after. Another name for the piece is "Fatherland". Since the piece of the ideas of patriotism and liberality was marked, it was banned in 1873 so just like all satirical magazines. Like many other writers and journalists Kemal was arrested and detained in Cyprus. In 1876, he was then allowed to freely and rehabilitated. In 1888 he was appointed governor of Chios.

Kemal was the information provided by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey, according to a Freemason.