Aka Gündüz

Aka Gündüz (1886 – 7 November 1958) was a Turkish poet, composer and politician. He is most notable for having composed the Ankara Marşı (Ankara March).

Early life and education

Aka Gündüz was born as the son of the Major of the Ottoman Military Kadri Bey from Rize as Hüseyin Enis Avni, but during his life he was known with a variety of pen names such as Hüseyin Enis Avni, Ali Kemal, Enis Avni, Enis Saffet or Seniha Hikmet amongst others. With the establishment of the Turkish Republic, he embraced the Kemalist school of thought, and from 1932 to 1946 he was a Member of Parliament representing Ankara.

Literary career In the 1900s, he began to write poems and later wrote for a variety of newspapers and magazines such as the Türk Yurdu, Sabah, Milliyet and Cumhuriyet amongst others.