WRITER

Orhan Kemal

1914 - 1970

Photo of Orhan Kemal

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Orhan Kemal (15 September 1914 – 2 June 1970) is the pen name of Turkish novelist Mehmet Reşit Öğütçü. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Orhan Kemal has received more than 60,103 page views. His biography is available in 21 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 20 in 2019). Orhan Kemal is the 4,330th most popular writer (down from 3,980th in 2019), the 903rd most popular biography from Türkiye (up from 971st in 2019) and the 112th most popular Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 60k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 49.42

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 21

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.80

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.94

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Yazmak doludizgin
2002
Yalancı dünya
1966
Bereketli topraklar üzerinde
1900
Suçlu
1974
The idle years
Fiction
Orhan Kemal is one of Turkey's best-loved writers, with a standing equal to Charles Dickens in England. These are the first two semi-autobiographical novels in a series, set in the 1920s and 1930s when Turkey was undergoing major social change. The unnamed narrator grows up in an affluent household in an Adana village with his brother, two sisters, mother, and formidable father, a known political agitator, but the family are forced to migrate to Beirut on account of his activities. The boy develops into a rebellious and feckless teenager, reluctantly attempting to support his now impoverished family through menial work while resenting his father's stern attempts to control him. Eventually lack of money provokes him and his best friend to set off for Istanbul to look for work. Before long he has developed into an alienated and self-conscious adolescent, preoccupied by his scrawny appearance, ragged clothes and lack of prospects— and he soon has to make a humiliating return. The fact that his father is well born but notorious does not help him make his way in the world and things begin to look up only when he falls for a pretty young factory girl. The most famous of Kemal's writings in Turkey, this is the first time that it has been published in English and it features a foreword by 2006 Nobel Prize winner, Orhan Pamuk.
2003
Mahalle kavgası
1963

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Orhan Kemal ranks 4,330 out of 7,302. Before him are Lygia Fagundes Telles, Louise-Victorine Ackermann, Mordecai Richler, Herbert Achternbusch, Dorothee Sölle, and Franciszek Karpiński. After him are Winston Graham, Helen Prejean, Breyten Breytenbach, Ruth Westheimer, Maksim Tank, and Connie Willis.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1914, Orhan Kemal ranks 244. Before him are Krishan Chander, Jack Cardiff, Hermínio de Brito, Helen Johns, William Phillips, and Adolf Urban. After him are Sven Jacobsson, John Ireland, Oscar Heisserer, Renato Olmi, Jaap Bakema, and Zainul Abedin. Among people deceased in 1970, Orhan Kemal ranks 175. Before him are Conrad Nagel, Rube Goldberg, James B. Donovan, Vince Lombardi, Abdelaziz Ben Tifour, and Konstantinos Tsaldaris. After him are Pierre Mac Orlan, Alfréd Rényi, Julius Pokorny, István Kozma, Kiichiro Higuchi, and Arne Nyberg.

Others Born in 1914

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Others Deceased in 1970

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In Türkiye

Among people born in Türkiye, Orhan Kemal ranks 903 out of 1,347. Before him are Leontia Porphyrogenita (457), Ahmet Adnan Saygun (1907), Theodore of Tarsus (602), Hamit Kaplan (1934), Uğur Mumcu (1942), and Ekrem İmamoğlu (1970). After him are Simeon the Holy Fool (522), Dilan Yeşilgöz (1977), Photius II of Constantinople (1874), Pythodorida of Pontus (-30), Osman Nuri Topbaş (1942), and Ahmet Altan (1950).

Others born in Türkiye

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Among WRITERS In Türkiye

Among writers born in Türkiye, Orhan Kemal ranks 112. Before him are Cemal Süreya (1931), Musa Anter (1920), George Kodinos (1350), Adalet Ağaoğlu (1929), Theodore Abu Qurrah (750), and Uğur Mumcu (1942). After him are Osman Nuri Topbaş (1942), Ahmet Altan (1950), Yervant Odian (1869), Turan Dursun (1934), Hranush Arshagyan (1887), and Ayşe Kulin (1941).

born Writers

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