Nazim Hikmet

Nazim Hikmet, popularly known and critically acclaimed in Turkey as the first and foremost modern Turkish poet, is known around the world as one of the greatest international poets of the twentieth century, and his poetry has been translated into more than fifty languages. Born in 1902 in Salonika, where his father was in the foreign service, Hikmet grew up in Istanbul. You can read his whole life here.

A fervent nationalist patriot, a socialist whose humanistic views tran- scended barriers of race and country, Nazim Hikmet is considered one of Turkey's very foremost modern poets . . . and yet for many years his works were banned in his native country and he himself suffered long exile. (Comtemporary Turkish Writers - A Critical Bio-Bibliography Louis Mitler - Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, 1988. p. 178-179. )

One of the most important figures in the 20th century Turkish literature and one of the first Turkish poets to use more or less free verse. Hikmet became during his life time the best-known Turkish poet in the West, and his works were translated into several languages. However, in his home country Hikmet was condemned for his commitment to Marxism and he remained decades after his death a controversial figure. His writings were filled social criticism and he was the only major writer to speak out against the Armenian massacres in 1915 and 1922. (To read it all, please click...;)

Here are some links (in english) about Nazim Hikmet:
His Life, His Work, Comments
Poems of Nazim Hikmet Revised and Expanded
The Most Strange of Creatures
Nazim Hikmet at Poets.org
A sad State of Freedom
Hymn To Life