







The Most Famous
WRITERS from Türkiye
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Turkish Writers of all time. This list of famous Turkish Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Turkish Writers.

1. Hesiod (-800 - -700)
With an HPI of 81.76, Hesiod is the most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 86 different languages on wikipedia.
Hesiod ( HEE-see-əd or HEH-see-əd; Ancient Greek: Ἡσίοδος Hēsíodos; fl. c. 700 BC) was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. Several of Hesiod's works have survived in their entirety. Among these are Theogony, which tells the origins of the gods, their lineages, and the events that led to Zeus's rise to power, and Works and Days, a poem that describes the five Ages of Man, offers advice and wisdom, and includes myths such as Pandora's box. Hesiod is generally regarded by Western authors as 'the first written poet in the Western tradition to regard himself as an individual persona with an active role to play in his subject.' Ancient authors credited Hesiod and Homer with establishing Greek religious customs. Modern scholars refer to him as a major source on Greek mythology, farming techniques, early economic thought, Archaic Greek astronomy, cosmology, and ancient time-keeping.

2. Lucian (120 - 200)
With an HPI of 77.74, Lucian is the 2nd most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 69 different languages.
Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, c. 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed superstition, religious practices, and belief in the paranormal. Although his native language was probably Syriac, all of his extant works are written entirely in ancient Greek (mostly in the Attic Greek dialect popular during the Second Sophistic period). Everything that is known about Lucian's life comes from his own writings, which are often difficult to interpret because of his extensive use of sarcasm. According to his oration The Dream, he was the son of a lower middle class family from the city of Samosata along the banks of the Euphrates in the remote Roman province of Syria. As a young man, he was apprenticed to his uncle to become a sculptor, but, after a failed attempt at sculpting, he ran away to pursue an education in Ionia. He may have become a travelling lecturer and visited universities throughout the Roman Empire. After acquiring fame and wealth through his teaching, Lucian finally settled down in Athens for a decade, during which he wrote most of his extant works. In his fifties, he may have been appointed as a highly paid government official in Egypt, after which point he disappears from the historical record. Lucian's works were wildly popular in antiquity, and more than eighty writings attributed to him have survived to the present day, a considerably higher quantity than for most other classical writers. His most famous work is A True Story, a tongue-in-cheek satire against authors who tell incredible tales, which is regarded by some as the earliest known work of science fiction. Lucian invented the genre of comic dialogue, a parody of the traditional Socratic dialogue. His dialogue Lover of Lies makes fun of people who believe in the supernatural and contains the oldest known version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Lucian wrote numerous satires making fun of traditional stories about the gods including The Dialogues of the Gods, Icaromenippus, Zeus Rants, Zeus Catechized, and The Parliament of the Gods. His Dialogues of the Dead focuses on the Cynic philosophers Diogenes and Menippus. Philosophies for Sale and The Carousal, or The Lapiths make fun of various philosophical schools, and The Fisherman or the Dead Come to Life is a defense of this mockery. Lucian often ridiculed public figures, such as the Cynic philosopher Peregrinus Proteus in his letter The Passing of Peregrinus and the fraudulent oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus in his treatise Alexander the False Prophet. Lucian's treatise On the Syrian Goddess satirizes cultural distinctions between Greeks and Syrians and is the main source of information about the cult of Atargatis. Lucian had an enormous, wide-ranging impact on Western literature. Works inspired by his writings include Thomas More's Utopia, the works of François Rabelais, William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

3. Orhan Pamuk (b. 1952)
With an HPI of 77.48, Orhan Pamuk is the 3rd most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 112 different languages.
Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; Turkish pronunciation: [feˈɾit oɾˈhan paˈmuk]) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him the country's best-selling writer. Pamuk's novels include Silent House, The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red and Snow. He is the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches writing and comparative literature. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018. Born in Istanbul, Pamuk is the first Turkish Nobel laureate. He has also received many other literary awards. My Name Is Red won the 2002 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, the 2002 Premio Grinzane Cavour, and the 2003 International Dublin Literary Award. The European Writers' Parliament came about as a result of a joint proposal by Pamuk and José Saramago. Pamuk's willingness to write books about contentious historical and political events put him at risk of censure in his homeland. In 2005, a lawyer sued him over a statement acknowledging the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Pamuk said his intention had been to highlight issues of freedom of speech in Turkey. The court initially declined to hear the case, but in 2011 Pamuk was ordered to pay 6,000 liras in compensation for having insulted the plaintiffs' honor.

4. Constantine VII (905 - 959)
With an HPI of 76.99, Constantine VII is the 4th most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 57 different languages.
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (Ancient Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Πορφυρογέννητος, Kōnstantinos Porphyrogennētos; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor Alexander. Most of his reign was dominated by co-regents: from 913 until 919 he was under the regency of his mother, while from 920 until 945 he shared the throne with Romanos Lekapenos, whose daughter Helena he married, and his sons. Constantine VII is best known for the Geoponika (τά γεοπονικά), an important agronomic treatise compiled during his reign, and three, perhaps four, books; De Administrando Imperio (bearing in Greek the heading Πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν Ῥωμανόν), De Ceremoniis (Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως), De Thematibus (Περὶ θεμάτων Άνατολῆς καὶ Δύσεως), and Vita Basilii (Βίος Βασιλείου), though his authorship of the Vita Basilii is not certain. The epithet porphyrogenitus alludes to the Purple chamber of the imperial palace, decorated with porphyry, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time. Nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimate son, as opposed to all others, who claimed the throne during his lifetime. Sons born to a reigning Emperor held precedence in the Eastern Roman line of succession over elder sons not born "in the purple".

5. Anacreon (-570 - -485)
With an HPI of 76.43, Anacreon is the 5th most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.
Anacreon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; c. 573 – c. 495 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early lyric poetry, it was composed to be sung or recited to the accompaniment of music, usually the lyre. Anacreon's poetry touched on universal themes of love, infatuation, disappointment, revelry, parties, festivals, and the observations of everyday people and life.

6. Anna Komnene (1083 - 1153)
With an HPI of 75.10, Anna Komnene is the 6th most famous Turkish Writer. Her biography has been translated into 53 different languages.
Anna Komnene (Greek: Ἄννα Κομνηνή, romanized: Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek princess and historian. She is the author of the Alexiad, an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constitutes the most important primary source of Byzantine history of the late 11th and early 12th centuries, as well as of the early Crusades. Although she is best known as the author of the Alexiad, Anna played an important part in the politics of the time and attempted to depose her brother, John II Komnenos, as emperor in favour of her husband, Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger. At birth, Anna was betrothed to Constantine Doukas, and she grew up in his mother's household. She was well-educated in "Greek literature and history, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and medicine." Anna and Constantine were next in the line to throne until Anna's younger brother, John II Komnenos, became the heir in 1092. Constantine died around 1094, and Anna married Nikephoros Bryennios in 1097. The two had several children before Nikephoros' death around 1136. Following her father's death in 1118, Anna and her mother attempted to usurp John II Komnenos. Her husband refused to cooperate with them, and the usurpation failed. As a result, John exiled Anna to the Kecharitomene Monastery, where she spent the rest of her life. In confinement there, she wrote the Alexiad.

7. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (-60 - -7)
With an HPI of 74.94, Dionysius of Halicarnassus is the 7th most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, Dionúsios Alexándrou Halikarnasseús, ''Dionysios (son of Alexandros) of Halikarnassos''; c. 60 BC – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was atticistic – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. He is known for his work Rhōmaikē Archaiologia (Roman Antiquities), which describes the history of Rome from its beginnings until the outbreak of the First Punic War in 264 BC. Out of twenty books, only the first nine have survived. Dionysius' opinion of the necessity of a promotion of paideia within education, from true knowledge of classical sources, endured for centuries in a form integral to the identity of the Greek elite.

8. Yunus Emre (1240 - 1321)
With an HPI of 73.65, Yunus Emre is the 8th most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.
Yunus Emre (Turkish pronunciation: [juːˈnus emˈɾe]), also known as Derviş Yûnus (Yûnus the Dervish) (1238–1320) (Old Anatolian Turkish: يونس امره), was a Turkish folk poet and Sufi who greatly influenced Turkish culture. The UNESCO General Conference unanimously passed a resolution declaring 1991, the 750th anniversary of the poet's birth, International Yunus Emre Year.

9. Ammianus Marcellinus (330 - 395)
With an HPI of 72.36, Ammianus Marcellinus is the 9th most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 61 different languages.
Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicised as Ammian (Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born c. 330, died c. 391 – 400), was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). Written in Latin and known as the Res gestae, his work chronicled the history of Rome from the accession of the Emperor Nerva in 96 to the death of Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Only the sections covering the period 353 to 378 survive.

10. Giorgos Seferis (1900 - 1971)
With an HPI of 71.73, Giorgos Seferis is the 10th most famous Turkish Writer. His biography has been translated into 82 different languages.
Giorgos or George Seferis (; Greek: Γιώργος Σεφέρης [ˈʝorɣos seˈferis]), the pen name of Georgios Seferiadis (Γεώργιος Σεφεριάδης; March 13 [O.S. February 29] 1900 – September 20, 1971), was a Greek poet and diplomat. He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate. He was a career diplomat in the Greek Foreign Service, culminating in his appointment as Ambassador to the UK, a post which he held from 1957 to 1962.
People
Pantheon has 145 people classified as Turkish writers born between 800 BC and 1989. Of these 145, 14 (9.66%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Turkish writers include Orhan Pamuk, Adnan Oktar, and Petros Markaris. The most famous deceased Turkish writers include Hesiod, Lucian, and Constantine VII. As of April 2024, 13 new Turkish writers have been added to Pantheon including Idris Bitlisi, Aphthonius of Antioch, and Athenaeus Mechanicus.
Living Turkish Writers
Go to all RankingsOrhan Pamuk
1952 - Present
HPI: 77.48
Adnan Oktar
1956 - Present
HPI: 64.07
Petros Markaris
1937 - Present
HPI: 62.90
Mustafa Balel
1945 - Present
HPI: 62.75
Zülfü Livaneli
1946 - Present
HPI: 59.69
Osman Nuri Topbaş
1942 - Present
HPI: 56.22
Ahmet Altan
1950 - Present
HPI: 56.19
Ayşe Kulin
1941 - Present
HPI: 55.74
Can Dündar
1961 - Present
HPI: 52.53
Nedim Gürsel
1951 - Present
HPI: 51.09
Akif Pirinçci
1959 - Present
HPI: 50.07
Pınar Selek
1971 - Present
HPI: 46.90
Deceased Turkish Writers
Go to all RankingsHesiod
800 BC - 700 BC
HPI: 81.76
Lucian
120 - 200
HPI: 77.74
Constantine VII
905 - 959
HPI: 76.99
Anacreon
570 BC - 485 BC
HPI: 76.43
Anna Komnene
1083 - 1153
HPI: 75.10
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
60 BC - 7 BC
HPI: 74.94
Yunus Emre
1240 - 1321
HPI: 73.65
Ammianus Marcellinus
330 - 395
HPI: 72.36
Giorgos Seferis
1900 - 1971
HPI: 71.73
Aratus
315 BC - 240 BC
HPI: 69.78
Theodore the Studite
759 - 826
HPI: 69.70
André Chénier
1762 - 1794
HPI: 69.59
Newly Added Turkish Writers (2024)
Go to all RankingsIdris Bitlisi
1452 - 1520
HPI: 60.48
Aphthonius of Antioch
300 - 400
HPI: 57.96
Athenaeus Mechanicus
200 BC - Present
HPI: 57.80
Adile Sultan
1826 - 1899
HPI: 57.59
Alexander of Abonoteichus
105 - 170
HPI: 56.80
Uğur Mumcu
1942 - 1993
HPI: 56.32
Ahmet Altan
1950 - Present
HPI: 56.19
Oğuz Atay
1934 - 1977
HPI: 55.60
Zabel Sibil Asadour
1863 - 1934
HPI: 55.44
Zahrad
1924 - 2007
HPI: 55.22
Emine Semiye Önasya
1864 - 1944
HPI: 51.13
Pınar Selek
1971 - Present
HPI: 46.90