Nazim Hikmet

- Born: about 1902, Salonika, Ottoman Empire (now Greece)Poets.org: Nazim Hikmet
- Died: 1963, Moscow, heart attackPoets.org: Nazim Hikmet
- Wrote in Turkish; poems and plays translated into many other languagesKirjasto: Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963)
- Full Name: Nâzim Hikmet RanKirjasto: Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963)
- An English translation of Human Landscapes from my Country was made available in November 2008Blog Critics: Book Review: Human Landscapes From My Country... by Nazim Hakmet (December 26, 2008)
- Shared the Soviet Union's International Peace Prize with Pablo Neruda in 1950Kirjasto: Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963)
- Combined Turkish traditional poetry with avant-garde stylesKirjasto: Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963)

Nazim Hikmet is Turkey's most famous poet, playwright and social activist. On January 5, 2009, 45 years after his death, the Turkish government restored his citizenship. After spending some 17 years in prison, Hikmet lost his citizenship in 1951 because of his Communist views and works.AP: Turkey restores citizenship of celebrated poet (January 5, 2009)
Communism and Turkey

Poet Hikmet was one of Turkey's first modern poets, writing verses expressing his deep love of his country. He traveled to Moscow in the 1920s to study economics and sociology, and there he joined the Bolshevik movement. He returned to Turkey but escaped before he could be imprisoned.
In 1928, Hikmet returned to Turkey. He was imprisoned in 1938 on charges of inciting members of the military to rise up. Freed in 1950, he emigrated to Poland where he became a Polish citizen. He was deprived of his Turkish citizenship in 1951, and spent the rest of his life in Poland or Russia.
Hikmet's poetry was banned in Turkey until 1965. Associated Press comments that his reinstatement is a symbolic move to help the Turkish government get into the European Union.AP: Turkey restores citizenship of celebrated poet (January 5, 2009)
Works
- Things I Didn't Know I Loved (1975)
- The Day Before Tomorrow (1972)
- The Moscow Symphony (1970)
- Selected Poems (1967)Poets.org: Nazim Hikmet
- The House of the Deceased (1932)
- Sword of Damocles (1974)Kirjasto: Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963)
From Things I Didn't Know I Loved (1975)
Translated by Mutlu Konuk and Randy Blasin
- I just remembered the stars
- I love them too
- whether I'm floored watching them from below
- or whether I'm flying at their side
- I have some questions for the cosmonauts
- were the stars much bigger
- did they look like huge jewels on black velvet or apricots on orange
- did you feel proud to get closer to the stars
- I saw color photos of the cosmos in Ogonek magazine now don't be upset comrades but nonfigurative shall we say or abstract well some of them looked just like such paintings which is to say they were terribly figurative and concrete
- my heart was in my mouth looking at them
- they are our endless desire to grasp things
- seeing them I could even think of death and not feel at all sad
- I never knew I loved the cosmosPoets.org: Nazim Hikmet
Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison (1949)
- To think of roses and gardens inside is bad,
- to think of seas and mountains is good.
- Read and write without rest,
- and I also advise weaving
- and making mirrors.Kirjasto: Nâzim Hikmet (1902-1963)