Teodor Kasap

Theodor Kasap

Teodor Kasap (* 1835 in Kayseri , Ottoman Empire , † 1897 in Istanbul ) was a Greek-born editor and Satire - author . In 1870 he published the first Turkish-language satirical magazine, Diyojen .

Life

After the death of his father, Kasap moved to Istanbul at the age of eleven. There he worked for a Greek trader and attended a Greek school. After the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, he came to France through contact with a French officer, where he studied until 1856. On his return to Istanbul he gave French lessons and came into contact with the city's literary circle.

On November 24, 1870, the first issue of Kasap's weekly satirical magazine Diyojen ("Diogenes") appeared. It was the first Turkish-language satirical magazine in Turkey. Only the Armenian- speaking Meğu, which had been published since 1856, and the satirical supplement to the daily newspaper Terakki , also published from 1870, were older or the same age. The magazine quickly became known for its cartoons and quality articles. In addition to satirical contributions by Namik Kemal and Ebüzziya Tevfik , among others, Kasap also published translations of French literature. His translation of The Count of Monte Christo was one of the first Turkish translations of a French novel. The magazine existed until January 1873, when it was banned after about 180 issues.

Kasap responded by publishing new satirical magazines: first Çıngıralı Tatar ("The Messenger with the Bells "), which existed from April to July 1873, then from October 1873 to June 1877 Hayal ("Fantasy" or "Shadow Play"). The figures of the traditional Ottoman shadow theater, Karagöz and Hacivad , repeatedly appeared in the caricatures of Hayal , which gave the magazine a specifically Ottoman character. This was followed by the satirical magazine Karagöz, founded in 1908 . In 1875 Kasap also published a political daily, Istikbal , for a period . The years 1870 to 1877 were the first heyday of Ottoman satirical magazines - a total of around 20 were published short or long-term in these years. This phase ended on May 8, 1877, when the Turkish parliament banned satirical magazines. For Kasap, 1877 also meant a three-year prison sentence for the publication of a censorship-critical cartoon in Hayal. He was released on condition that he would stop publishing satirical magazines. Kasap then emigrated to Europe. After several years he was rehabilitated by Sultan Abdülhamit II and invited to return to the Ottoman Empire. Kasap found a job there in the sultan's library.

In addition to his editorial activities, Kasap also worked as a playwright. He wrote both his own pieces and translations of French pieces, for example by Molière .

Teodor Kasap was a freemason .

Individual references, comments

1. ↑ Elmas, Elif: The Balkan Crisis from 1875 to 1878 in the Mirror of Ottoman and Western Caricatures, 1st edition, Lang, Peter Frankfurt 2016, p. 95
2. ^ ^{A b} Tobias Heinzelmann: The Balkan crisis in the Ottoman caricature. The satirical magazines Karagöz, Kalem and Cem 1908–1914. Orient Institute of the German Oriental Society, Istanbul 1999, in commission Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, ISBN 3-515-07604-2 , p. 49
3. ↑ Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey : Famous Turkish Freemasons ( Memento of April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Turkish)

literature

• Elmas, Elif: The Balkan Crisis from 1875 to 1878 as Reflected in Ottoman and Western Caricatures, 1st edition, Lang, Peter Frankfurt 2016, ISBN 978-3-631-67377-5