Güntekin, Resat Nuri

Born Nov. 25, 1889, in Istanbul; died Dec. 7, 1956, in London. Turkish writer.

Güntekin graduated from the faculty of letters of the University of Istanbul in 1912. He taught French from 1913 to 1931. He was the cultural attaché in Paris and a deputy to the Majlis (1938–43). His first story, “Old Friend,” appeared in 1917. He is the author of the novels The Flower of Ruins (1918) and The Little Songbird (1922) and the plays A Real Hero (1918), The Dagger (1918), and A Bit of Stone (1926). Güntekin was one of the first Turkish authors to depict Anatolia, the provincial towns, and the oppressed Turkish countryside realistically and comprehensively in his novels and stories. Güntekin touched on the acute problems of the family, dealt with the interrelations of the individual and society, and exposed the clergy. In the novel Green Night (1928), Güntekin reflected the national liberation struggle of the Turkish people. Some of his works were written in a sentimental spirit. He translated works of J. J. Rousseau, M. Cervantes, E. Zola, and A. Camus. He wrote the book Leo Tolstoy, His Life and Works (1933).