The Fisherman of Halicarnassus: A portrait of Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı

50 years have passed since the death of journalist, author, poet, and painter Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, known by the pen name "The Fisherman of Halicarnassus."

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The Fisherman of Halicarnassus: A portrait of Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı

Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı was born in Crete on April 7, 1890, as the child of Ferik Mehmed Şakir Pasha and Sare İsmet Hanım. The author, who spent his childhood in Athens and Büyükada where his father was stationed, began writing while studying at Robert College.

Kabaağaçlı, who studied "Modern History" at Oxford University, married an Italian woman in 1913 and lived in Italy for a while.

The master author returned to Turkey in 1914 and settled on his father's farm in Afyon. After his father died from a bullet fired from his own gun during an argument, Kabaağaçlı was tried on charges of murder and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

HE GREW TO LOVE BODRUM, WHERE HE WAS EXILED

After completing 7 years of his sentence, Kabaağaçlı was released due to tuberculosis. Upon his release, the author returned to Istanbul and entered the world of journalism, writing articles, drawing cartoons, and creating cover illustrations and designs for magazines such as "Güleryüz," "Yeni İnci," "Resimli Gazete," "Resimli Hafta," "Zümrüd-i Anka," and "Resimli Ay."

HOW DID HE COME TO BODRUM?

Due to his article titled "How do those sentenced to death in prison go to their hanging knowingly?" published in the April 13, 1925 issue of the magazine Resimli Hafta, the author was tried at the Istanbul Independence Tribunal and found guilty of "writing articles encouraging military rebellion while there was an uprising in the country." The author, known for his love of Bodrum, first arrived in the city after the Independence Tribunal sentenced him to three years of internal exile in the fortress.

Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı returned to Bodrum of his own volition in 1928 after completing his sentence and lived there until 1947. After this period, he wrote his works under the pen name "The Fisherman of Halicarnassus" (Halikarnas Balıkçısı), derived from the city's ancient name, Halicarnassus. The master author made great efforts to beautify Bodrum by bringing in seeds and saplings from abroad.

The author, who made his second marriage to his cousin Hamdiye Hanım, divorced her during his years of exile and married Hatice Hanım, the daughter of a Cretan family. The author had 5 children from his three marriages.

"NATURE, THE SEA, FISHERMEN, FISH, AND BIRDS"

While Kabaağaçlı mostly focused on cartoons, cover illustrations, and designs until 1928, he gradually moved away from painting after this date and dedicated himself entirely to writing. Life in and around Bodrum, nature, the sea, sailors, sponge divers, fishermen, fish, and birds became the subjects of his novels and stories.

The Fisherman of Halicarnassus, known for the sea stories he wrote after being exiled to Bodrum in 1926, was awarded the "State Culture Award" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1971.

The difficult and troubled years of the Second World War forced The Fisherman of Halicarnassus to leave Bodrum. Kabaağaçlı sold his boat named "Yatağan" and his house, and settled in İzmir in 1947. After settling there, the author continued his journalism and writing career at the newspaper "Demokrat İzmir," also working as a tourist guide for a while and taking people on tours of the Aegean coast from İzmir to Bodrum along a route he called the "Blue Cruise."

Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı passed away on October 13, 1973, at the age of 83 in the Hatay district of İzmir due to bone cancer. In accordance with his will, the author was laid to rest in Bodrum.

WORKS

The works penned by Kabaağaçlı are as follows:

Stories: "From the Aegean Shores," "Hello Mediterranean," "The Bottom of the Aegean," "Long Live the Sea," "The Smiling Island," "From the Aegean," "In the Seas of Youth," "Fingerprint," "Divers," "The Wedding of the Flowers," "A Flower Left to the Sea from the Aegean," "Blue Times," "The Smiling Island"

News Source: AA