ACAROĞLU, Mehmet Türker

Writer (b. 1915 Razgard, Bulgaria). He is a Bulgarian Turk. He attended primary school in Razgard (1926). He moved to Türkiye when he was about eleven-twelve years old. He started his secondary school education in Balıkesir and completed it in Adana High School for Primary Education Teachers (1937). After attending the Ankara Gazi Institute of Education (1940), he specialized on librarianship in Türkiye and France (Paris State Institute of Documentation Techniques, 1952). He worked as a teacher and as an administrator at schools in Erzurum (1937-38), Ağrı (1940), Kars (1943) and Ankara (1940, 1943-55), and as a specialist librarian at the National Library in Ankara (1950-52), and as the Director of Collection of Printed Documents and Pictures in İstanbul (1952-74). He took his pension off in 1974. He still continues his researches and studies with great care.

He published his first articles and translations from Bulgarian in a review called Kaynak and in some other local newspapers in Balıkesir (1934). Also working at the İstanbul Radio on introduction of publications (1953), Acaroğlu published his book reviews, articles and translations in hundreds of reviews and newspapers, such as the reviews Varlık, Yücel, Ülkü, Türk Dili, Türk Kütüphaneciler Derneği Bülteni, Yenilik, Kültür, Türk Düşüncesi, Tercüme, Milliyet Sanat, Yeditepe and the newspapers Ulus, Cumhuriyet, Kudret, Son Posta, Tan, Vatan, Savaş, Havadis, Milliyet, Hürvatan and Tasvir (1957-60). He presented a radio program called “Kitapseverlerle Başbaşa” (Together with Book-lovers) at the İstanbul Radio between 1957 and 1960. He was awarded with a golden medal by the Bulgarian State on the anniversary of establishment of Bulgaria in 1981, for his translations from Bulgarian language. However, he rejected this award to protest the oppression against Turks in Bulgaria, which went on between 1984 and 1985. He also collected the İhsan Hınçer Award for Contribution to Turkish Folklore by the Turkish Folklore Research Center (1991), and the Eminent Service Award of the Turkish Librarians Association in 1995; the Librarians Award of the İstanbul Branch of the Turkish Language Association in 2004 and was dignified with a “Certificate of Acknowledgement” from the Writers Syndicate of Türkiye in 2004.

WORKS:

Çocuk Şiirleri Antolojisi (Anthology of Children’s Poems, 1944), İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınları Bibliyografyası/1933-45 (A Bibliography of İstanbul University Publications/1933-45, in collaboration with Adnan Ötüken; second edition, 1947), Ankara Üniversitesi Yayınları Bibliyografyası (A Bibliography of Ankara University Publications, 1950), Edebî Eserler Sözlüğü (A Dictionary of Literary Works, 1965; with the title “Ozanlar ve Yazarlar” - Poets and Authors, 1963), Bulgaristan'da 120 Yıllık Türk Gazeteciliği (Turkish Journalism of 120 Years in Bulgaria, 1965), Bulgar Hikâyeleri Antolojisi (Anthology of Bulgarian Stories, 1967), Türk Halk Bilgisi ve Halk Edebiyatı Üzerine Seçme Yayınlar Kaynakçası (A Bibliography of Selected Publications on Turkish Popular Knowledge and Folk Literature, in collaboration with Fıtrat Ozan, 1972), İstanbul'un Yetiştirdiği Ünlü Kişiler, Ozanlar, Yazarlar, Sanatçılar (The Famous People, Poets, Authors and Artists Brought up in İstanbul, 1976), Türk Halk Ozanları ve Destanları Kaynakçası (A Bibliography of Turkish Folk Poets and Epics, in collaboration with F. Ozan, 1978), Açıklamalı Atatürk Kaynakçası (A Bibliography on Atatürk with Explanations, 2 volumes, 1981), Balkan Halk Biliminde Türk Etkileri (Turkish Influences on Balkan Folk Sciences, 1983), Açıklamalı Süleyman Nazif Kaynakçası (A Bibliography on Süleyman Nazif with Explanations, 1987), Bulgaristan'da Türkçe Yer Adları Kılavuzu (A Guide of Turkish Place Names in Bulgaria, 1988; republished in 2005), En Ünlü Dünya Yazarları (The Most Famous Authors of the World, 1988), Dünya Atasözleri (Proverbs around the World, 1989), Türk Atasözleri (Turkish Proverbs, 1992), Türkiye'de ve Dünyada Derleme Çalışmaları (Anthology Studies in Türkiye and around the World, 1997), Bulgarlar ve Bulgaristan Üzerine 100 Yıllık Türkçe Kaynakça (A Turkish Bibliography of 100 Years on Bulgarians and Bulgaria, 1997), Prof. Dr. Pertev Naili Boratav Kaynakçası (A Bibliography on Prof. Dr. Pertev Naili Boratav, published separately from “Pertev Naili Boratav'a Armağan”-A Present to Pertev Naili Boratav, 1998), Bulgaristan Türkleri Üzerine Araştırmalar (Studies on Bulgarian Turks, 1999), Bulgarların Aldığı Türkçe Adlar ve Soyadları Sözlüğü (A Dictionary on the Turkish Names and Surnames Adopted by the Bulgarians, 1999), İlk Derleme Müdürü Selim Nüzhet Gerçek (The First Manager of Anthology - Selim Nüzhet Gerçek, 2002), Batı’da ve Türkiye’de Kaynakça Çalışmaları (The Bibliographic Studies in the West and in Türkiye, in collaboration with L. Malclès and A. Lhéritier, 2004).

SIMPLIFICATION: Şermin (Şermin, from Tevfik Fikret, second editon, 1946), Atatürk (Atatürk, from M. Turhan Tan, second edition, 1946), Kitap (Book, from Necip Asım Yazıksız, second edition, 1992).

Besides, he translated many works from Bulgarian writers.