Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı (1900—1982) was a Turkish
literary historian of
Azerbaijani descent, known for his works on
Sufism, Divan literature and
Iranian literature. He was a translator and educator, "an outstanding interpreter of Sufism, especially the
Mawlaviyya and
Bektashiyya schools",[1] as well as "one of the greatest scholars of Turkish Sufism".[2]
Early life and education
Gölpınarlı was born Mustafa İzzet Bâkî in Istanbul on 12 January 1900, and he died in Istanbul 25 August 1982. His father, journalist Ahmed Agah Efendi, was a follower of the
Mevlevi Order who worked as an
Ottoman civil servant in
Rusjuk, Bulgaria, then moved to Istanbul during the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. His mother was Aliye Şöhret Hanım. His family was from
Gence, Azerbaijan.[1]
After his father's death he worked in bookshop in
İstanbulVezneciler and as a teacher and administrator in Menbâ-i İrfân İptidiari School in Alaca district of
Çorum. In 1922 he returned to Istanbul, where he completed his last year in the MFA. He graduated from
Istanbul University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Turkish Language and Literature, under the supervision of Köprülüzade Mehmet Fuat Bey. His 1930 thesis was titled Melâmilik and Melâmiler.
Career
As a teacher of literature, he worked in Istanbul's
Haydarpaşa High School, and with high schools in
Konya,
Kayseri,
Balıkesir and
Kastamonu. He was a
Persian language lecturer at
Ankara University, on the faculty of Language, History and Geography. After earning his doctorate, he taught Islamic-Turkish
Sufism history and literature at
Istanbul University. In his Divan Literature Declaration (1945), he controversially criticised
Divan literature using an ideological approach.[3] "According to the book's argument, Divan literature was a bad imitation of Iranian literature; he was not interested in social problems. Later, he approached Divan poetry with a softer attitude and prepared it for publication from the structure like Fuzuli Divanı (1948) and 'Nedim Divanı (1951)."[4]
In 1945 he was arrested for allegedly violating Article 142 of the Turkish Criminal Code; after serving 10 months in prison, he was acquitted.[5]
In 1949 he voluntarily retired. He died 25 August 1982.[5]
Selected publications
Boratav, PN, & Golpinar, A. (1943). Pir Sultan Abdal. Ankara: AÜ DTCF Turkish Language and Literature Institute Publication.
Gölpinarli, A. (1945). Tabiat ve Divan Edebiyatı. Divan Edebiyatı Beyanındadır, Đstanbul.
Golpinar, A. (1950). The Organization and Sources of Futuvet in Islamic and Turkish Provinces. Istanbul University Faculty of Economics Journal,11,1-4.
Gölpınarlı, A. (1951). Mevlânâ Celaleddin.
Golpinar, A. (1952). The organization and its sources in the Islamic and Turkish provinces . Istanbul University.
Gölpınarlı, A. (1953). After Mevlânâ Mevlevilik.
Gölpınarlı, A. (1953). Kaygusuz Abdal-Hatayi-Kul Himmet.