IRC, — I NAL ■ r r ^ o S ^ o Z 1229
¡J r M • al-Amîn MahmOd Kemâl (en turc Epodern«: IshullmIn Mahmud Kemâl In al), ► i8to-*957, b io g r a p h e et é c r iv a in turc dont TTinipiftaiu^ ri>ide dans te. fait qu‘ iJ est le d ern ier ' r e p résen ta n t é m in en t de la scien ce e t de l ’éru d itio n tr a d itio n n e lle s o tto m an es. Son père, Mehnu-d bruiri lasha (1837 1908, également cornu sous 1<» nom de «Mühürdar» du fait qu’ il «tait te secrétaire privé de son protectei.r et parent Vnsui kàmil Pasba (1808-76), grand-vizir sous f Abd ai-cAziz et gendre d»; Mn bain ni ad {Ali d ’Egypte), servit dans diverse» province d’Anatolie et se retira en 1908 comme gouverneur < •wttiçorrif) des îles de !a in*?r Lgé«;. Sa mère. Haiïiide Nergis, mourut e.i 2
>35-Le^ an» *tres d .Mal>nnM Kemâl étaient originaires de BuKipirà et <' nient connus sous le nom d» Seltlje- cogblï fSel<enogiu)# q.jf ^ta,t g j tvé sur les sceaux P<:r» tnels de la famille, ’«ts la fin d< sa vie, il déclara qu’il regrettait d'avoir adopte lu nom d'Inal (comme «traduction» d*Kmfn) inique la loi obligea les Turcs» cit 1934, ù prendre des patronymes, et de n’avoir point pris, comme certains ; *?mbre» de la famille, le vieux nom de SHdicn-oahlu (t. M. K. îi Son hailutlar, 67-, n. Iæ surnom d’ Ibn il-Amin (Ibniiter. ¡n) commence • apparaître peu ,ij r 1890 d. pr*.r • "h é» rus.
Ap: ' s»voir <•' de Pmv- «t l'i »le snpôrioutc frâdu/fv>t) «te * . je) *de située dans l'ancienne il kulhy\ i n inlyve, .'»i.d>nuV! Kemâl entra \ la fblfi: yt \j t.... niai ut obligé la quit
ter pour raison • • saut* P.v la u»te, il stiivit quel ques cour» a 1*1 de oit (\ft' ttb 1 Ilukûk)
r 1 Qu 1 les
,ridrasa% et rnosqné- d’ I * ud»ul Mais il reçut -mi1 >ut une in ‘tr action privée «•»• ou p':re et de précepteurs, et ,t| prit l'arabe, le pt.ian, les sciences « ! nique J.t, ,«, <• ,-t } ■ ,| f<, français. L'un de ' pr •¡.•««.»•uf ’ ’ r.- . . f le célèbre î ’te ia I **ii Miiaui*f, u n cit» poète Mehmed v ‘ I«*: • db 'raphe IJ a . , ! tl. m (t8si-io»5) fut
ate • m pr. Ht lui qni nu«* ta
vif intérêt pour l’hist' »e d« calligraphié turque [¿on hi&aUar, 434
Mal.unûci Kcmài wutra en 1889 au service du jouv*riminont comme enpio>é au IMpartement des Province Autouoours dans k>s bureaux du grand- vizir. En » 891, il fat mule a » bureau de la chancellerie privée du g« md vizir iïadart. Huit mi), dont iî itevi en 1906 te ocs-duecteur et, en r ,08. le directeur A - es la remise en vigueur de la Consti tution, en 1908, pendant tes crises au sujet de la Bosnie et de ia Bulgarie, il fat nommé directeur du Bu» eau i*our les Provinces Autououy» (Eyilâtt Mumiûxé Muftjüc.ret
Lorsque *Abd «n Haited fut déposé eu 1909, un comité fut institué, sous sa présidence pour classer tes docan «nts et tes rapport* d*inforniuion* (urnal) ti- avés au palais Yfldlz ci provisoirement transférés dars l’un des «kmsks» à l’entrée du ministère de la Guerre (l’a uol club universitaire t*rofes<jrUr Evi*). Il put ainsi examiner et copier’ de nombiftux docu ments d’une importance exceptionnel’^ sur la pote t q>»e intérieure et étrangère sou » le règne de cAbd ui-ilamid (1876-1909;, qu’il devait utihser amplement dans ses ouvtsge1. Durant la première guerre mon diale, le ministre de EInstruction publique, Shfîkrtl Bey ([ç.v.j; ex»f *t.é en 1926 pour so». rôle de premier plai. dans ia. conspiration »»aioniste contre M isiai i Kemâl), le nomma (eu même temps que Djenâb Shihâb al-dln, Sülcymàn Na?ii et d’autres) membre d comité de rédaction de YAthâr t muj.de kiaüb khânss 1, chargé de préparer pour l'impression des manuscrits uniques ou rares d’ouvrages de la litté- ratiue turque, lî écrivit des introductions de valeur à nombre d'ouvrages de cette collection excellennncut éditée (voir infra); n»ai*i lorsque le poète cAbd al- Hakk Hâmid fie jo»:*»: des influences politiques pour fuir« publier se< propres ouvrages dans la collection et qu’ Lnwer I'asha ordonna de rééditer pour l’année certain' des ouvrages de Nâiriik Kemâl, le projet tut abandonné; les difficultés du temps de guei re et la pénurie s’v ajoutèrent.
De la fin rie la première guerre mondiale à la dissolution du aouvein a a rit d'Istanbul (1918 «î2), il fut te rédacteur en .»*f du »limai officiel du goii\ niement Taku'm t tcek t- d x pendant les deux derniers mois h«d de la rhan? ellerie (IHvuïn-i HiimâyûnBeèlikHsi) ; en cette »jualité, tl représenta le bureau du grand-vizir a ia commission politique spéci ale de * 'c-*-crt*iai' •- c» -.rg/-> do préparer i’exj>v»-Adu \y ’rit de vue rte Turcs aux négociations du traité «te 3>aix {iv col. Ismct Itey, le futur Inônti, repi/s» iitn»t te mtuistê ede la C terre . cette même commission;.
Aprè*» une norniitattou temporaire à l ’administra non de la Dette publique ottoman« (Düyun i *r ,*üiûiyyr i o f i il allabora avec de nombre«»« écrivains intell» .h'.s en renom à l'époque, il fut, en io n , ••• Mu- président «le la commission pour . î.i- s rlocuments historiques (M>i/wV' tu'n- --niyye ‘m. >uj heyuti) par la Société historique »»Dom .. •*. (7 u'rïkii ' totJ}puïni endjumeni) . «1 I t ¡1 avait té (\ 1 mcinhio en 1923. Trois années d»* < »v; I ’ ■« 1 ot.omission lui permirent te rassembler le pr» eux matériaux pour tes ouvrages qui alla t su im. t ?i ¡<, 7, .»-¿ce à l’appui de deux de , . 1 » • » ir.. cur», le, po<.-' . Khalî! Nihnd lioztepa • r cAlâ3 al-dln [Gdvsa], le nouveau gmt- riien.mi *i Ankara le nomma directeur . n Mie»'-»- »-i 1 d io n - oie ’ If-i Tsiàmiyyc MuztÀ), aj'jvlé- par 1 uiti; .«Iusé«* »les Arts Turcs et te .1 fut -;ue 1 / -ir> rr / iam t\erhr\ Mu csi) situé
1 la Kut'ix >»</< v> ~ i#ti 1 v' Il >•* aservri «e jvrste jiis«|u' . s;i reti ...a < u 19
123 > INAI.
Eu 1936, grâce à 1 appui de la prnu.esse égyptienne Khadiijja ‘ Abfeâs Hallin, il alla «en pèlerinage a La Mekke et visita l’ fcgypte. H.. décembre 1^39. >•' pi-in* > .«lubamTiu't ‘ AU, alors Ué- àer présomptif du trône d'Égypte, l'invita (ainsi nue le taliigraph.- Kàiail Akdik) à vr-ur - n Égypte pour aider aa d id d u o M de sa coUectiou de caliigrut*ie islamique. A son retour à Istanbul, en févri er 1940, ; 1 se vit nonuner rouse ilkr du comité déridai mm de lia i, Uon turque de VEncyclopé* c 4e TlsUin, sur l'initiative nersonuelle du 11 »san AU Yüc*l td W lO Ô i), t" rtvain, publiciste- et ministre compétent de f fcdocatiou nationale qui, durant ses huit années de servi<x ut m»me par la aite, i'enrou.-.vtea eu. Un..tient, le pressant de publier ses principaux ouvrages (qui étaient, pou* Jn plu art, à l'état .ie noie» .;isp— -*es et qui furent imprimés unis cette forme). MaUtnfld K.-m.il n’eutrt-prit de trier et de ccuden er la masse considérable de matériaux dont il disposait que .orsqu’il Itu fut otficieileiueiit demandé d’écrire (A. H. T-npinar, Iknkl Lin.» ilatnnud Kemai'e liai dans l'introdüMiou de l'œuvre ixethuroe d*!nal Huf s.W , Istanbul 19}*, P- " v De 1940 â sa mort, te 24 mal 1937, U ronaacra la plu., grande partie de son temps 1 préparer, corriger et surveiller l'impression de -tes livres
Mai.nmd Kemâl lut probablement ie dernier représentai-.i du gentilhomme ott- naa an. -n style, s'obstinant de mauière ai'ach. unique à mener la vie de cette classe dispan-e et â conserver ch .z lui i» nostalgique Ulusu>11 des tempe pestes. Soi. respect e.t sou adn.iratii.it sincères p o u r le pu e ottoman l'empêchèrent de prendre conscience lies change nrents qui survenaient autour de lui; r-fusant de s'adapter à mesure q'ie i agi- ver.ait. il devint de plus en plus difficile à vivre, tınca- ter et bourru, et ces tendances furent aggravées par sa forte vanité et sou égocentrisme. Dans les années. 1930, Mahinüil Kemâl, qui était resté toute sa vie célibataire, était devenu par la façon de s'habiller, ses manières, ses propos et ses relations, l'honune le plus excentrique d'Istanbul; rie même qu'il pu ait pour être une «archive vivante» et lit plus grande autorité en matière d'histoire politique et culture’!«: de l'empire Ottoman, parti-tilièr -nient pour la période de 1870 à iy .il, grâce a une vie pus - e a recueillir et é .lier d'innombrable« documents d’importance unique, à sa collaboration avec de nombreux personnages clefs de plusieurs ¿itérations et a sa mémoire phé noménale. Dès sa première jeunesse, H avait com mencé à recueilli- ries documents, de- manuscrits et îles antiquités et, à cinquante sus, I possédait l'une des plus nctu-s collecte -.«. ;.r-\ ¿es «le Turquie dans son konak familial de ! , -rv: ,s isqnn, a, . l'armistice de Mudro-, les ; n-- al’ inr. at a Istanbul en 1919. Mahmiid K a l re«, . un pr.-avis de 24 heures |s< u é» a le-' -s... éouac, dix-huit mois plus tard, quand -il é •■■■ lui fai rendu >n constata, un inc il le -oïl.. .u*t» a.a. ae-ul «ions sa note amobiographiq • . qu- la j , xrt des d-> n meuts, îles manuscrits et obje-.s précité.-. qui avaient été enti--posi's ila. s j irais.,n. .v -M - le «pillés, détruit., profanés . ;vnliis» (Knuiimr daxr. tians Sou ,/iir Tiirk vitrier: i tanbul 1930- 2, 2201-421.
Mahinüd Kemâl . tait . peine «o-ti de 'enfance lorsque, dai- 1rs années t.Sdo, .1 publia sr> premiers articles da-is ie jouri Tank. I,:ie.»i.,-agé par le célébré ccriv.in. et publicis'c . Midhat, i! olla- î.ura dura ces .uini't-s x.i journal de C1.ll.1al, Ter- ÿU nàn ih 'lr h il. partir lie ce n,oui,-ut, sou nonvr tu nul!, d'ilm 1! «mil -, .1 • -remenl dans ,1e
niant eux journaux et ¿<eri<><üçuex d'istaab •■ « Saloruque, suivis de brochures de différente longueur
écrit« trai au* de -eiigi-.u, de aiica'« de luté- ratui« et d’histon«-. eurent r • -uli'rir de [d censure de l,tbd alH u.\td; mais 1« véritable app, , de Mahn.ud Kemai résnle dure» le nom t'«te de ! umgraphte oit il suivit eaeeot.eüement le rmeq.*, ! ottoman trarUt-om»-;, mais réussit, par la suite, i le dépasser. Dans es biographies il donne en effet ! les sèches énumérations habituelle de nrurootv.r, ! et mutations bureaucratiques. mais ce qu’il y ajout | est toujours pi-i» important. L'exploitation n- I, aie
de matériaux «.‘archives de prrmièc» m-uiL, «le docu ments de provenance privée, d'éclair a--'.es anecdote. authenthpies, d an ,'ogies pertinentes. txnaly» impartiales da U situ a i;.» oui tcmpornine. «a vue pénétrante de la psychoiogi - humaine alliée à un seti. profond de l'humour lui permettent de donner souvent it- portrait le ¡dus vivant, lo plus inoubliable | et 1<Î (dus convaincant de sort sujet. Il -st reuiar
quable qu’en dépit de sou extrême sensibib , d* ses foi tes «y rup-thiex et aiu.paihie», de ses préjugés, de ses remarques iaanchante« su< bien .les pçrsoor- d ü i sa cnuvereaiion, il était dans ses écrits très cou «ci,miteux. éqnilibtc e i équitable; d est cependant juste d'ajoub : que ses art-J*, intime» et ses po'ter leurs 1 amsi que reux de ■ faïuil!-- (p ex V ».sut K.iu» I l'asJi»,* Kâmil Payea, Kui.uk Sa‘ td i’âîbai sont 1 peut être traités «ver, un peu plu. d. symputh j et d'attention que les autre«
Le texte du tesb»meut de Mabmûd Ke.uâl a ci . publié dans l'iulrishictiou de »on ouvrage (x- ’ ■ ■ ' • 1 y/uÿ mua (voir tnftai. Suivant la traiiitiou de 110m 1 brettx savants turcs, il faisait d.ni a l t-nivcr«iii- 1 d'Istanbul de sa rtche bibi' -thèque privée -t !• ... I son kanak a l’école Imum HtUiP d ’Istanbul
il fut difficile à Maimiüd Kcmil de « habit, nouvel alphabet latin (1928) avec s«i» règles ti ment phonétiques, et il ignora jusqu' la fin ; nouvelles règles orthographiques du turc m . u r b , - . I insistant pour que ses livres soient imprimés .m
sa propre orthographe qui te mit de reproù • transcription ht- tonqne du tuic ottoman
Comme les puriste* île l'école du Mu‘ allim .8 >_i. j 11 aurait préli le, :orn, -s .correct.-s < d emi uuu i arabes et iguoié les adaptations phoiu-t.qii' I l'actuel emploi turc (p. ex. iyalel, aktwa, Uni" \ au heu de eyaici, akraùa. Uhhkt
A |.arl «jur.q-.:- proiturtions llttér.uitfs iniuuures. 1 nombre de br'xjn.res et d'at Unies de ji.-irn.uix. Mabtnüd Kcmâl tst l'.-ute'.r d -, puM h .irions -ni vont, s: — < £>«'.;.(/-• //«mû v u - V « | u r r ' i > ' " la'rikhie-i te&IUM me atijfarfd •rrifarm - • Istanbul 1 i5/i‘)x7. du miiiistire de.-a b i o g r de.-a p h i e s 'les minUtrfs. Bicu qur rouvrde.-ait «ut i-té coufi*; a une équipe, se» t ollég1»«*’« n > *>utn huèrent pas; édition critiqua tiu Diw**^ * poèt. du XWX V I ! tièiJe. i ha y kj al ^iâin V.i;« avec une introduti«>,i ci»* 65 P •Ut*" SUI v {>]
«.u; de l’ .iutf>»r, Ist:*.îihul 3 ^‘ci “ crititju»* <îu 4/tuûn *iu *« > * c ! « l u '•* Mersekli ‘ Arif avec une iutrodu» tion
7« pages, Istanbul I334/*916; — 4* édition cnt»>P*‘ du Diu'tïn du néo*« las iquc du X IX * i.»^ (¿h.'tlih, .^v'fc une iiitrodiH tinf» de 47 P**^' • A u\‘ 1335/* 9*7; “ S. édition critique des k u n c r t r à n de ‘ Al i, avec une 1 intriKİuetio de 133 P ir la v ie et les ‘ Ah. I-tanbul 1926; n ditlOU cri tic
1 u h fe 1 U h a ttn tïh de .Mu »niAİmzAdc ¡>«de> al-flin, ’ r.iitr bi .»raphi-jue ir 1« ^ calbK“ 1! ' !< uii'* iritrodurtioîi d»* “ 5 p »Kr> **t <^ ‘ no*<
J i¿6', — 7■ Son astr Tièrk şairleri, biographies * sans esprit critique et de valeur inégale) * si-» poète du X I \ ' et du XX» -átele, avec de courts “ »jséc'.aieus le urs neu'.Tts, i l fus. ules (1.230 * luw**) f-t-mfciil 1930-42 (le titre, original, kamil . ' \ucari3, a été modifié par la Sociét • historique J5s a rq a e qui eu a entrepris la publication); — S. Jr'ij; t k i v t n d d ton 'ruina tamlar, Istanbul 1940-9,
J » «1 ouvrag. le plus important, contient un important _ r=-,uiti ic! inédit sur la vie et l’époque des 37 derniers
j.-ands-vinrs; dans l’esprit de l’auteur, il devait é -ns' tuar le sixième et derııieı suppl nv ît {(¿¿ayl) I i la Haàiliat a'-Msard3 de 'l'ijjm in <Sde i V ï b (le æ:--ritre original, Aavnil al-Şmiür s été tûitugé par le ^Seinisiere de ¡’éducation!; — 9. Son haftllar, Istrn- 4 çîmt 1955, volumi- ux (839 pages) recueil de bio- fcr-aphieo de 103 calligraphes, ave d'abondant"- EjUpéciraens de leur cru te et ime introduction sur les y 1 sources tu. -graphiques ottomanes se rapportant aux SŞ cailler.1 - hes - le la période classique; — 10. Hoş Soda, à Ts f bul 19 50*-posthume), bic*graphies des composi- I '-.urs turcs de mustqiiu classique des Xf X* et X X r ^ les ; tes 138 premières pares »ont de sa plume et É ie reste {pp. .29-314) a été rassemblé et complété, I ' principalement d ’après les notes d-- Mabtnüd Kemâl, , par 111 Aktuc. L'introduction, de 71 pages, coni- I prend le tev te de son testament, des articles de St Hasan-AJi Yücel, Ahmet llamdi iaupinar et de deux
de ses médecins, K. I. Giirkan et M. E. Gtiçhai, ainsi que des données importantes sur sa vie, sa personnalité et son caractère.
liibliograpkie : les principales sources sur la vie et l'ieuvre de Mahmud Kemal Inal se trou vent dans ses propres ouvrages éjntmérés-dans l'article.
R O D — IN A L
T ’P S G S W 'L
IN A L , Ibn a l-Am în Ma h m ü d Ke m â l (in modem Turkish: Ib n ü l e m in Ma h m u d Ke m a l In a l), 1870- 1957, Turkish biographer and writer, a significant figure as being the l a s t o u t s t a n d in g r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of t r a d i t i o n a l O t to m a n s c h o la r s h ip a n d e r u d itio n . His fatheı Mebmed Emin Paşha (1837-1908, also known as “ Mühürdar” since he was private secretary to his patron and relative Yusuf Kamil Paşha (1808-76), Grand Vizier under ‘ Abd al- ‘Aziz and son-in-law of Muhammad ‘ Ali of Egypt) served in various provinces in Anatolia and retired in 1908 as governor (mutaşarrif) of the Aegean Islands. His mother Hamide Nergis died in 1935.
Mahmüd Kemâl’s ancestors came originally from Bukhara and were known as Seldjen-oghli (Selce- noğlu), a name which was engraved on the personal seals of the family. Later in life he wrote that he regretted having adopted the surname Inal (as a “ translation” of Emin) when fam ily names were introduced by law in 1934, and not taking instead their old name Seldjen-oghlu, as some members of the family did (I. M. K. Inal, Son hattatlar, 672, n. 1). The by-name Ibn al-Amin (Ibnülemin) begins to appear in his earliest writings, in the 1890’s.
After graduating from the Şhehzâde high school (rüşhdiyye) located in the old Hmdret of the Süley- mâniyye külliye, Mahmüd Kemâl entered the Mülkiyye \q.v.], but was obliged to leave because of ill-health. Later he attended some courses at the School of Law (Mekteb-i Hukülf) and public lectures in the principal madrasas and mosques of Istanbul. But he was for the most part educated privately by his father and by tutors, learning Arabic, Persian, the classical Muslim sciences, and some French. The well-known Khodja Tahir from Ipek, in Albania, the father of the poet Mebmed ‘Akif, was among his favourite teachers. The calligrapher Hasan Tahsin (1851-1915) was also his tutor; it was he who inspired his keen interest in the history of Turkish calligraphy (Son hattatlar, 424-7).
Mahmüd Kemâl entered government service in 1889 as a clerk in the Department for Autonomous Provinces, in the Grand Vizier’s Office. In 1891 he was transferred to the Office of the Grand Vizier’s private Chancery (Sadâret Mektübi Kalemi), where he became deputy-director in 1906 and director in 1908. After the restoration of the Constitution in 1908, during the crises concerning Bosnia and Bulgaria, he was appointed director of the Office for Autonomous Provinces (Eyâlât-i Mümtâze we Muhhtâre).
When ‘ A bd al-Hamid was deposed in 1909, a special committee under his chairmanship was set up to classify the documents and informers’ reports (jurnals) found in Y lldiz Palace and temporarily transferred to one of the “ kiosks” at the entrance to the Ministry of W ar (the present University Faculty Club, “ Profesörler E v i” ). He was thus enabled to examine and copy many documents of unique importance regarding the home and foreign policy of ‘ Abd al-Hamid’s reign (1876-1909), of which he was to make ample use in his works.
During the First World War, the Minister of Education Şhükrü Bey ([?.v.], executed in 1926 for his leading part in the Unionist conspiracy against Muştafâ Kemâl) appointed him (together with Dienâb Shibâb al-Din, Süleyman Nazif and others) as a member of the Editorial Board of the Âthâr-i
Müfide Kütübkhânesi, which was charged to prepare unique or rare manuscripts of Turkish literary works for publication. He wrote valuable introductions to many works in this excellently produced series (see below); but when the poet ‘A bd al-Hakk Hâmid [q.v.) used political influence to have his own books published in the series and Enwer Paşha ordered the reprinting of some of Nâmik Kem âl’s works for the Arm y, the project was abandoned. Wartime difficulties and shortages were additional causes.
From the end of the First World W'ar to the dissolution of the Government of Istanbul (1918-22), he served as editor of the official government news paper Takunm-i Wekdyic, and in the last two months as head of the Government Chancery (Diwan-i Hümâyun Beğlikcisi). In this capacity he represented the Grand Vizier’s office on the special political committee of under-secretaries appointed to draw up the Turkish view on the forthcoming peace- treaty negotiations (Col. Işmet Bey, the future İnönü, represented the Ministry of War on the same committee).
After a temporary appointment in the Admin istration of the Ottoman Public Debt (Düyün-i ‘ Umümiyye [q.a.]), where he worked in the company of many leading writers and intellectuals of the period, he was in 1924 made president of the Com mission for the Classification of Historical Documents (Wethâ,ik-i ta'rikhiyye tasnif heyeti) by the Ottoman Historical Society (Ta'rikh-i ‘ Othmdnî Endiütneni), of which he had been elected a member in 1923. In three years’ concentrated work on the commission he was able to collect valuable material for his later works. In 1927, through the good offices of two of his friends and admirers, the poets Khalil Xihad [Boztepe] and Ibrâhim ‘A lâ al-Din [Gövsa], the new Ankara Government appointed him Director oi the Museum for Pious Foundations (Ewkaf-i Isldmiyye Müzesi), later renamed Museum for Turkish and Islamic Arts (Türk ve Islam Eserleri Müzesi) located in the Süleymaniye K ülli yy e. He kept this position until his retirement in 1935.
In 1936, with the support of the Egyptian Princess Khadidja ‘ Abbâs Halim, he went to Mecca on pilgrimage and visited Egypt. In December 1939, Prince Muhammad ‘ Ali, then the heir-apparent to the Egyptian throne, invited him (together with the calligrapher Kâmil Akdik) to Egypt to help classify his collection of Islamic calligraphy. On his return to Istanbul in February 1940 he found himself appointed adviser to the Editorial Board of the Turkish edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam. This was a personal decision of Hasan A li Yücel (1897- 1961), writer and publicist and an able Minister of Education, who during his eight years in office and afterwards constantly encouraged him, urging him to publish his major works (which were mostly in the form of disjointed notes, and were edited as they actually went to the printers). Mahmüd Kemâl brought himself to sort his immense quantity of material and concentrate it only when he was officially commissioned to write (A. H. Tanpinar, Ibnül Emin Mahmud Kemal’e dair, in the introduction to Inal’s posthumous work Hoş soda, Istanbul 1958, p. LIV). From 1940 until his death on 24 May 1957, he devoted most of his time to preparing, correcting and supervising the printing of his books.
Mahmüd Kemâl was probably the last surviving example of the old-style Ottoman gentleman, who anachronistically insisted on leading the life of that extinct class and on preserving in his house the I nostalgic illusion of bygone days. His genuine respect
1200 I N A L — IN 'Ä M
and admiration ior the Ottoman past made him ignore the changes which were taking place around him; refusing to adapt himself with advancing age, he grew more and more difficult, fussy and can tankerous, tendencies which were aggravated by his strong vanity and egocentricity. B y the 1930’s Mah mud Kemâl, who remained a bachelor all his life, had become in dress, manners, speech and personal relationships the most eccentric man in Istanbul. A t the same time, he was recognized as being a ‘living archive’ and the greatest authority on the political and cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, particu larly for the period 1870-1921, thanks to a lifetime spent in collecting and studying innumerable docu ments of unique importance, to associating with many key personalities of several generations and to his phenomenal memory. From his early youth he had be gun to collect documents, manuscripts and antiques, and in his fifties he possessed one of the richest private collections in Turkey, housed in his family konak at Bayezid. When after the armistice of Mudros, the Allied forces moved into Istanbul in 1919, Mahmüd Kemâl was given 24 hours’ notice to evacuate his konak. Most of the documents, manu scripts and precious objects which had been stored in the house were found to be Tooted, destroyed, desecrated or lost’ when the konak was returned to him after 18 months, as he comments bitterly in his autobiographical note (Kendime dair, in Son asır Türk şairleri, Istanbul 4930-1942, pp. 2201-42).
Mahmüd Kemâl was little more than a child when he published his first articles in the newspaper Tarik in the 1880’s. Encouraged by the famous writer and publicist Ahmed Midhat, he contributed for years to Midhat’s paper Terdjümân-i Hakikat. Henceforth his new surname Ibn al-Amin appeared regularly in many Istanbul and Salonika papers and periodicals. Pamphlets of various length followed. His writings covered the fields of religion, ethics, literature and history, and often suffered at the hands of cAbd al- IJamid’s censors. B ut Mahmüd Kemàl’s real contri bution is in the field of biography. He essentially continued but later went far beyond the traditional Ottoman biographical pattern. In his biographies he does indeed give the usual uninspiring enumeration of bureaucratic promotions and transfers, but what he adds is always more important. W ith the masterly use of first-hand archive material, privately obtained documents, illuminating authentic anecdotes, rele vant analogies, unbiased analyses of contemporary conditions, and insights into human psychology com bined with a strong sense of humour, he often gives the most vivid, unforgettable and convincing portrait of his subject. It is remarkable that in spite of his highly sensitive temperament, his strong likes and dislikes, his prejudices, his cutting remarks about many people in his conversation, he was in his writings very conscientious, balanced and just. Perhaps it is fair to add that the close friends and patrons of his family and himself (e.g., Yusuf Kamil Paşha, Kâmil Paşha, Küêük Sacid Pasha) are treated with perhaps a little more sym pathy and attention than others.
The text of Mahmüd Kemàl’s testament has been published in the introductory part of his posthumous work Hoş sada (see below). Following the tradition of many Turkish scholars, he presented to the University of Istanbul his rich private library and bequeathed his Konak to the I manı-Hatip school of Istanbul.
It was hard for Mahmüd Kemâl to get accustomed
to the new Roman alphabet (1928) with its strictly phonetic rules, and he ignored until the end the new spelling rules of modern Turkish, insisting on having his books printed in his own peculiar spelling, which tried to reproduce the historical spelling of Ottoman Turkish.
Also, like the purists of the school of Mu'allim Nadji, he would prefer the “ correct” forms of some Arabic loan-words and ignore phonetic adaptations in the present Turkish usage (e.g., iyalet, akriba, tehlüke, instead of eyalet, akraba, tehlike).
Apart from minor literary productions and many pamphlets and newspaper articles, Mahmüd Kemâl is the author of the following published works: (z) Ewkäf-i Hümâyun Nezaretinin ta^rikhee-i teşhkilâti we nüzzârin terâdjim-i ahwdli, Istanbul 1335/1917, a history of the Ministry of Wakfs with biographies of the ministers. Although the book was entrusted to a team, no contribution was made by his colleagues; (2) critical edition of the Diwan of the n th / i7 th century poet Şhaykh al-Isläm Yahyä, with a 65-page introduction on the life and poetry of the author, Istanbul 1334/19x6; (3) critical edition of the Diwan of the 19th century neo-classicist Hersekli 'A rif Hikmet, with a 78-page introduction, Istanbul 1334/ 1916; (4) critical edition of the Diwan of the 19th- century neo-classicist Leskoftali Ghâlib, with a 47-page introduction, Istanbul 1335/1917; (5) critical edition of Mustafa 'Ä li’s Menäkib-i hünerverân, with an important introduction of 133 pp. on 'A ll’s life and works, Istanbul 1926; (6) critical edition of Müs- takimzâde Süleyman Sa'd al-Din’s Tuhfe-ı khattâtin, a biographical treatise on calligraphers, with an in troduction in 85 pp., and notes, Istanbul 1928; (7) Son asır Türk şairleri, biographies (uncritically se lected and of uneven value) of 19th and 20th century poets with short specimens of their work, published in 12 fascicules (1230 pages) Istanbul 1930-1942 (the original title Kamâl al-shu^ard11 being changed by the Turkish Historical Society, which undertook the publication); (8) Osmanlı devrinde son sadnazamlar, Istanbul 1940-49, his most important work, contains much unpublished material on the lives and times of the last 37 Grand Viziers, conceived as the sixth and last supplement (dhayl) to 'Uthmân-zâde Târibs, Hadikat al-wuzaräJ (the original title, Kamâl al- Şudür, being changed by the Ministry of Education); (9) Son hattalar, Istanbul 1955, a voluminous (839 pages) collection of biographies of 163 calligraphers, with copious specimens of their work and with an introduction on Ottoman biographical sources for calligraphers of the classical period; (10) Hoş sada, Istanbul 1958 (posthumous), on the biographies of composers of classical Turkish music of the 19th and 20th centuries. The first 128 pages are from his own pen, the remainder (pp. 129-314) compiled and completed, maiixly from Mahmüd Kemäl’s notes, by Avni Aktuç. The 72-page introduction includes the text of his testament, articles by Hasan-Âli Yücel, Ahm et Hamdi Tanpmar and two of his doctors, K. I. Gürkan and M. E. Güçhan, with important data on his life, personality and character.
B ib lio g r a p h y . The main sources for Mahmud Kemal Inal’s life and works are his own works, as listed in the article. (Fa h irIz)
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