Ebüzziya Tevfik Bey

Ebüzziya Mehmed Tevfik (1849 – 1913) was an Ottoman writer, editor, and politician, whose ideas contributed to the formation of Turkish national identity during the early decades of the Turkish Republic. An early participant in the Young Ottoman movement, he is most known today as a prolific publisher, producing his own works and, through his press, many other intellectuals' writings.

Career

Early work in journalism and the Young Ottomans His growing interest in journalism, including writing for the Ruzname-i Ceride-i Havadis starting in 1864, led him to meet Namık Kemal and İbrahim Şinasi, who together introduced him to the literary circle around Şinasi's newspaper Tasvîr-i Efkâr, one of the first private periodicals in the Ottoman Empire.

After İbrahim Şinasi's death in 1871, his printing press for Tasvîr-i Efkâr was purchased by Mustafa Fazıl Pasha for the Young Ottomans, but it quickly passed into Ebüzziya's sole custody. His pointed commentary on the political upheaval of the period, however, again led to his arrest on multiple occasions, and as he had throughout his career, he continually changed the names of his periodicals to avoid censorship.

He died on January 27, 1913, and was buried with his family in the cemetery of Bakırköy.

Legacy In the Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition, historian Fevziye Abdullah that Ebüzziya Tevfik's most important legacy is "in his tireless work as a popularizer, journalist, and above all publisher and printer." His press, the Matbaa-i Ebüzziya, brought a number of influential and inventive works to the Ottoman public, along with several typographical innovations like a Kufic script.

In the Turkish-language İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Islam), Ziyad Ebüzziya writes that Ebüzziya Tevfik was both an influential literary figure of the Tanzimat Era and "a publisher known to later generations for his encyclopedic knowledge," emphasizing his lifelong commitment to education. Indeed, his encyclopedic works—the literary anthology, Numûne-i Edebiyât-i Osmâniye (Sampler of Ottoman Literature), his various almanacs, and his various popular knowledge journals—are widely regarded among historians as setting a new standard for intellectual outreach to the Ottoman public during the modern period.