Halide Edip Adıvar

Halide Edip Adıvar (Ottoman Turkish: خالده اديب اديوار; IPA2|hɑːliˈdɛ ɛˈdip ɑdɯˈvɑɹ) (1884–1964) was a Turkish novelist and feminist political leader. Best known for her novels criticizing the low social status of Turkish women and what she saw as the disinterest of most women in changing their situation, she also served as a soldier in the Turkish military during Turkish War of Independence.

Halide Edip was born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire; as a girl, she studied Arabic and mathematics, and graduated from the American College for Girls in 1901 [ [http://www.robcol.k12.tr/library/about_us/about_lib.htm Major renovations which took place over three summers were completed in 1996 ] ] ; the college was an influential force for reformist social change at the time. Halide Edip Adivar was only 15 years old in 1897 and translated "Mother" by Jacob Abbott and was awarded by Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II with The Order of Charity (Nishan-i-Shafakat / Şefkat Nişanı).

With her first husband, Salih Zeki, she had two children before they divorced.

Her first novel, "Seviye Talip", was published in 1909. She remarried, to Dr. Adnan Adıvar, in 1917, and the next year took a job as a lecturer in literature at Istanbul's Faculty of Letters. It was during this time that she became increasingly active in Turkey's nationalist movement, and after the end of World War I she and her husband travelled to Anatolia to fight in the War for Independence; she served first as a corporal and then as a sergeant in the nationalist military.

After the fighting ended, she and her husband moved to Western Europe; they would live in the French Third Republic and the United Kingdom from 1926 to 1939. She travelled widely, teaching and lecturing repeatedly in the United States and in British Raj India. After returning to Turkey in 1939, she became a professor in English literature at the Faculty of Letters in Istanbul. In 1950, she was elected to Parliament, resigning in 1954; this was the only formal political position she ever held.

Common themes in Halide Edip's novels were strong, independent female characters who succeeded in reaching their goals against strong opposition. She was also a strong Turkish nationalist, and several stories highlighted the central role of women in the fight for Turkish Independence.

Major works

*"Seviye Talip" (1909).
*"Mevut Hükümler" (1918).
*"Son Eseri" (1919).
*"Ateşten Gömlek" (1922; translated into English as "The Daughter of Smyrna" or "The Shirt of Flame").
*"Çιkan Kuri" (1922).
*"Vurun Kahpeye" (1926).
*"The Memoirs of Halide Edib" (1926), memoir, published in English.
*"The Turkish Ordeal" (1928), memoir, published in English.
*"Zeyno'nun Oğlu" (1928).
*"The Clown and His Daughter" (first published in English in 1935 and in Turkish as "Sinekli Bakkal" in 1936).
*"Türkün Ateşle İmtihanı", a memoir, published in 1962; translated into English as "House with Wisteria".

References

* Sonmez, Emel. (1973) The novelist Halide Edib Adivar and Turkish feminism. "Die Welt des Islams" New Ser., Vol. 14, Issue 1/4: 81-115.
* Mitler, Louis. (1997) "Contemporary Turkish Writers".
* Davis, Fanny. (1986) "The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918".

In literature

* The novel "Halide's Gift" by Frances Kazan (2001) is a coming-of-age story about Halide Edip's youth and maturation.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://gvcommunity.tripod.com/ladies/haide.htm Notable Ladies: Halide Edib Adivar]
* [http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2006/12/halides-ordeal.html Halide's Ordeal]