| Provisional Notes |
*Divan literature:
The most important literary activity of the Ottoman period. It was mostly an adaptation of the Arabic and Iranian art.
Its language was a mixture of Turkish, Arabic and Persian, which was later called the Ottoman Language. Although this genre produced mostly poems, it also produced history books, letters and travel notes.
(info: GHF 2006-10-03)
Born in Istanbul. Daughter of Marshal Müþiri Hekim Ismail Paþa, who was a descendant of the Greeks in Chios and who served as Head Physician at the Palace and was the Governor of Crete. She married to Giritli Sirri Pasa, a man of the old literary establishment. Took the surname (Saz) after the proclamation of the Republic (1928). Settled in Istanbul after the death of her husband in 1895 and kept close relations with the Ottoman Palace.
- Poetess, pianist with interest in the saz (violin).
- She learned Arabic, Persian, Greek and French. She had sufficient education to be able to compose and write lyrics. She wrote poems using the meters of Divan* literature. The main theme of her poems was the yearning and aspiration of love.
- Traveller: she traveled a lot in Anatolia and Thrace and wrote about her observations there. She also wrote memoirs on the life in the harem and the palace. She was well versed in Turkish music and she composed over 200 songs. |