Mevlüt Kaplan

Mevlüt Kaplan (born 1930) is a Turkish writer.

Early life Mevlüt Kaplan was born in 1930 in the village of Ökes in Akşehir province. When he was nine years old his mother died, as did two of his brothers soon after. His father worked in construction, and the young Mevlüt helped him run the household. As a boy he was apprenticed, and worked as a shepherd. He was so determined to go to school that he walked five kilometres to another village and back each day. Other boys also did so to begin with, but soon gave up. He was able to walk this distance even in the winter snow because his father made him shoes out of a car tyre.

Professional and literary life In 1958 he went abroad and studied world children's literature in London. When he returned to Turkey he worked as a teacher in Konya, as a primary school inspector in Mersin, Antalya and İzmir, and as a member of the Select Committee of the Ministry of Culture (1996-2000). In 1965, together with Fakir Baykurt and 93 colleagues he founded the Turkish Teachers’ Union.