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Sabahattin Eyüboğlu | |
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| Born | 1908 |
| Died | January 13, 1973(1973-01-13) (aged 64–65) Istanbul, Turkey |
| Resting place | Merkezefendi Cemetery, Istanbul |
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| Nationality | Turkish |
| Education | French philology |
| Notable awards | "Silver Bear" (1956Berlin Film Festival) |
| Relatives | Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu (brother) Mualla Eyüboğlu (sister) Ezgi Eyüboğlu |
Sabahattin Eyüboğlu (1908 – 13 January 1973) was aTurkishwriter,essayist,translator and film producer.
Sabahatttin Eyüboğlu was born in 1908 on theBlack Sea coast town ofAkçaabat nearTrabzon in a family with five children. His father Mehmet Rahmi later Eyüboğlu was governor of Trabzon and was chosen byMustafa Kemal Atatürk as a member of parliament. His younger brother was painter, writer and poetBedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu and his younger sister was architectMualla Eyüboğlu.
Sabahattin graduated from the Trabzon Lyceum and was sent toFrance, in order to studyFrench inDijon,Lyon andParis. Upon his return to Turkey, he was appointed as associate professor at theIstanbul University and assistant toLeo Spitzer andErich Auerbach. In 1939, Minister of EducationHasan Ali Yücel appointed him to the Ministry of Education, where he worked till 1947. He was also appointed as associate director of the Translation Office, a newly established department, responsible for the translation of the masterpieces of world literature. During the same period of time, he was a very strong supporter of the Village Institutes and himself taught at Hasanoğlan Village Institute nearAnkara.
With the fall of minister Hasan Ali Yücel, he lost his position and left for Paris as an inspector of Turkish students in France. Back in Istanbul, he returned to his position at the university until 1960. His name was among the 147 professors fired in 1960 by the university, he was found not guilty and was asked to return to his position, which he refused. He taught history of art at theIstanbul Technical University and did translation work.
He died of a heart attack on January 13, 1973, and was laid to rest at theMerkezefendi Cemetery in Istanbul.[1]
Sabahattin Eyüboğlu is a well-known writer, art critic, an excellent translator and also one of the first documentary film producers in his country. Among the films one can find:The Hitite Sun, winner of the "Silver Bear" award at the 1956Berlin Film Festival.Black Pen,Book of Festivities,Colors in Darkness,Roman mosaics in Anatolia,The Roads of Anatolia,The Gods ofNemrud,The Waters of ancient Antalya,The Mother Goddess,The World of Karagöz,To Live,Colored Walls,Cappadocia,Forty Fountains,Tülü.
His contribution as atranslator is considerable and unsurpassed. His translation ofMichel de Montaigne,Jean de La Fontaine,Ivan Goncharov,William Shakespeare,Plato,Albert Camus,François Rabelais,Paul Valéry,Jean-Paul Sartre,Aristophanes,Omar Khayyám,Arthur Miller,Molière,Franz Kafka,Bertrand Russell,François-Noël Babeuf etc. One should remember also that following the reform of the language by Atatürk, his work at the translation office allowed him to hold an important place in the implementation of the new Turkish language cleaned of Arabic and Persian words.
In 1945, answering the call ofCevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı (alias "The Fisherman of Halicarnassus"), he took part with his brotherBedri Rahmi and a few writers in a trip along thecoasts of theAegean Sea and theMediterranean, in search of the Anatolian civilizations and, was the one, who named this cruise "the Blue Cruise" ("Mavi Yolculuk" in Turkish).Azra Erhat wrote a book on the trip, which became a classic and a reference.
