The purpose is to keep the great master and his works alive in his 100th year and to transfer them to younger generations, said the son of an acclaimed Turkish writer during celebrations across Istanbul on Saturday on the anniversary of his father’s birth.
Poet-writer Rıfat Ilgaz was commemorated on his 100th birthday in Beyoğlu. Ilgaz, author of the novel titled “Hababam Sınıfı” (Hababam Class), which was made into a series of movies and became Turkey’s one of most popular comedy films, died in 1993.
Events to commemorate Ilgaz started Saturday on Beyoğlu’s İstiklal Avenue. An orchestra played songs composed for his poems while riding in an old tram decorated with Ilgaz’s photos, reported the Doğan news agency, or DHA.
“Our purpose is to keep the great master and his works alive in his 100th year and to transfer them to younger generations. We invite our public to the events that will continue in the country throughout the year. We decorated the nostalgic Beyoğlu tram with his photos on his birthday. The songs of his famous ‘Habamam Sınıfı’ were played on the İstiklal Avenue and made the public to experience a festival atmosphere. We hope his works will be adopted by future generations,” said İş Bank Cultural Publications General Coordinator Rengin Karan, speaking on the tram.
Also, bookmarks with poem written by the master writer were distributed to citizens during the event.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Ilgaz’s son Rıfat Ilgaz said his father would also be commemorated at a two-day event in his hometown in the Black Sea province of Kastamonu’s Cide district.
“A choir from the Culture Ministry will perform my father’s composed poems and the folk songs that he loved. Then a documentary titled “100 Yıllık Çınar Rıfat Ilgaz” (100-Year Plane Tree Rıfat Ilgaz), made over two years with support from the Culture Ministry, will premier. There will also be an award ceremony for winners of a poetry and composition competition about Rıfat Ilgaz,” he said.
He said the documentary, made by director Önder Uygun, would be promoted during a gala on May 14 at the Haldun Dormen Theater in Istanbul. Ilgaz also said the Writer’s Union and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality would organize events. The Cide Rıfat Ilgaz Sarı Yazma Festival will be organized on the anniversary of the author’s death.
As part of the “Rıfat Ilgaz is 100 Years Old” events, Ilgaz said he visited schools and explained his father’s life, works and worldview. “I found one of his poems after he died. He wrote this poem in January 1991 a short time before his death. It impressed very much. I visit schools with this concept. I advise students to read his books.”
Books drawing interest they deserve
Ilgaz said the Çınar Publishing House, which he has founded, established a cultural collaboration with İş Bank Publications within the scope of the “Rıfat Ilgaz is 100 Years Old” events. “The İş Bank Publications republished all of my father’s work with the logo of the Çınar Publications. This collaboration was very useful in distribution of the books. In this way, Rıfat Ilgaz books began to draw the interest that they deserve again,” Ilgaz said.
Ilgaz said whatever their worldview, artists had no problem with each other but politicians tried to create problems among them. “The Rıfat Ilgaz Culture House, opened by the Bakırköy Municipality in Istanbul’s Bahçelievler neighborhood, was renamed after the Turkish writer Necip Fazıl Kısakürek as soon as the municipality changed. Kısakürek’s family showed reaction to it saying that it was wrong to change the name of the culture house. Even though our worldviews are different from each other, we still see the Kısakürek family. While there are no problems between artists, politicians try to set them against each other.”
He wrote about the sufferings of people
Turkish poet and writer Rıfat Ilgaz was one of Turkey’s best-known and most prolific poets and writers. He has authored more than 60 works. He evolved into one of Turkish literature’s prolific social-realist writers of the 20th century. His poems are considered prime examples of socialist-realistic writing. While he has never really been a partisan of political ideologies, the fact he has written about the sufferings of the people gives him a left-wing perspective. In addition to his writing, he led an accomplished career as a lecturer in Turkish literature. He died in Istanbul in 1993 due to lung failure.
His best-known work is “Hababam Sınıfı,” which is shown as the best example of “the marvelous era of 70s comedies” of the Turkish cinema. The movie features funny scenes of student adventures between themselves, their teachers, other students and the principal who declared a disciplinary war on them.
