ATALAY, Besim

Writer (b. 1882, Uşak - d. 1965, Ankara). He received education at the Muslim Theology School in İstanbul and received lectures from Çarşambalı Hacı Ahmed Efendi. After graduating from Teacher Training School (1912), he served as a headmaster and teacher at various schools in Konya, Trabzon and Ankara. Then, he served as the Director of the Department of National Education in Maraş, İçel, Uşak and Niğde. He established the Society for the Defense of Rights in Silifke and participated in the National Independence War in Silifke and Uşak. He also served as a parliamentary deputy of Kütahya in the first and seventh periods.

Fluent in Arabic and Persian, Atalay gave lectures on the Persian language at Ankara University, Faculty of Language, History and Geography between 1937 and 1942. He published some important works related to the Turkish language. Although he worked at the Turkish Language Association for a long time, later on he opposed the studies by this association. With his poems and other literary works, Atalay is known for his research works as a defender of being Turkish and the Turkish language.

SOME WORKS:

Bektaşilik ve Edebiyatı (Bektashi Order and Literature, 1921), Müslümanlara Öğütler (Advice for Muslims, 1923), Baş Belaları (Troublemakers, play, three acts, 1927), Türk Dil Kuralları (Rules of the Turkish Language, 1931), Divan-ı Lügat’it Türk (Dictionary of Turkish Languages, translation, copyright, 5 volumes, 1939-43), Et Tuhfetü’z-Zekiye fi’l Lugati’t Türkiye (A Gift of the Clever in the Turkish Dictionary, translation, copyright, 1946), Türkçe’de Kelime Yapma Yolları (Methods of Deriving New Words in Turkish, 1946), Müyessiretü’l-Ulûm (The One Who Makes Science Possible, translation, copyright, 1946), Türk Dili ve İbadet (Turkish Language and Worship, 1961), Kur’an Tercümesi Tanrı Kitabı (Translation of the Holy Koran, the Book of God, 1962), Hayvan Hikâyeleri ya da Hayvanlardan Öğütler (Stories on Animals or Advice from Animals, 1962), Türk Dilinde Ana Kelimeler veya Türkçe’de Türetme Sözlüğü (Main Words in the Turkish Language or a Dictionary of Deriving New Words in Turkish, 1967), Abuşka Sözlüğü (A Dictionary of Chagatay Language, 1970).