Abstract
Sabri Esat Siyavuşgil's lecture titled "Ahmet Mithat-Mürebbi" given at the opening lecture ceremony of the 1945-1946 academic year is the subject of this study. The text of this conference was later published in Istanbul by Kenan Printing House under the title of "University Conferences 1945-1946". The same text was published in Istanbul Kültür magazine under the titles of "Ahmet Mithat Efendi- Renaissance Man I-II" and "What Ahmet Mithat Efendi Taught Us III-IV?" for four issues between 1 March and 15 April 1946. This conference, which the artist gave as the opening lecture of Istanbul University, has unfortunately been forgotten in the pages of the journal. However, even the expression "Renaissance Man" used by Siyavuşgil in this speech about Ahmet Mithat Efendi is interesting enough in itself in terms of our literary history. The aim of this study is to determine Siyavuşgil's approach to this issue by examining the ideas of the artist, who put forward different opinions about Ahmet Mithat Efendi. Siyavuşgil's thoughts on Ahmet Mithat differ seriously from the negative approach that has been evident in our literary history until recently. The author tries to evaluate Ahmet Mithat from this perspective by focusing on the role he assumed at the birth of modern Turkish literature. This assessment of course does not ignore Ahmet Mithat's contributions in the efforts of the establishment of a new society.In addition, Ahmet Mithat's sharing the beneficial aspects of the new civilization he faced with his society by filtering it is an approach that the author finds important. It is emphasized that Ahmet Mithat did not hesitate to reveal his sources while sharing this, and that he differed from other artists of the period in terms of referring to these sources. Listing the points that make Ahmet Mithat different, Siyavuşgil put forward ideas to refute each of them after mentioning the reasons for the emergence of negative judgments about Ahmet Mithat. In this respect, the conference, which presents Siyavuşgil's approach, is a serious examination of Ahmet Mithat in the early period. In this respect, it still deserves to be carefully examined.