Rıfat Ilgaz Biography

Rıfat Ilgaz (24 April 1911 – 7 July 1993) was a poet who was born in Cide, in the Kastamonu Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey). He was a teacher, poet, and writer. Ilgaz was one of Turkey’s best-known and most prolific poets and writers, having authored over sixty works.
Ilgaz started writing poetry during his junior school years and evolved into one of the prolific social-realist writers of 20th century Turkish literature. His poems are considered prime examples of socialist-realistic writing. While he has never really been a partisan of political ideologies, the fact that he has written about the sufferings of the people placed him at a left wing perspective. Like other writers of his time, Ilgaz was imprisoned as a result of one of his publications.
In addition to his writing, he led an accomplished career as a lecturer in Turkish literature.
Rıfat Ilgaz died in Istanbul in 1993 due to lung failure.