International Journal of History and Culture Studies

Abstract

The
Tanzimat period is one of most important periods of Ottoman history an
literatüre. During this period, there have been great changes in almost every
field. The intellectuals of the period carried out important activities to
spread the changes seen as “Westernization”. In the Ottoman Empire journalist,
publisher and politician Tevfik Ebüz'zi which is a person that makes printing
art in Turkey.

Ebüzziya
Tevfik is one of most important personalities of the Tanzimat in the field of
press an printing. There are many studies wwritten by Ebüzziya. These studies
provide information about the social, cultural and literary life of the period
of Tanzimat. Ebüzziya Tevfik, who was the Pioneer of innovations in may fields
such as press, journalism and printing technıgues in ottoman perod, is known an
encyclopedic Publisher who introduced important names of Tanzimat perod to the
next generations as well as his literary personality. Ebüzziya Tevfik is an
Ottoman intellectual who believes that a nation can only if it adheres to its
customs and traditions, national and religious beliefs and at the same time
accepting all kinds of innovations useful to it. İn this study, Ebüzziya
Tevfik’s life, literary personality, his Works and innovations in field of
printing, as well as contributions to the life of the press by addressing the
contrubition of the study is aimed to contribute to the studies in the field of
litertature history.

Ebüzziya Tevfik is an important
person in the history of Turkish press with her identity as a printer,
journalist and publisher. Despite all the difficulties, he did not stop
fighting for the press. He continued this struggle through his life by
publishing newspapers, magazines and salname. The closure of the newspapers he
worked in, his arrest due to differences of opinion with the administration of
the period, even his exile, did not turn him off. The newspapers and magazines
he worked were closed due to his critisism of the management of the period and
he was exiled for these reasons. He published magazines of different names
against the period management and tried to convey his thoughst to the public in
this way.

It brought western innovations in
many areas to the country, became the first da in many subjects, spent a
quarter of its life in the struggles for Hürriyet and the Constitutional Monarchy.
When we look at the work of Ebüzziya Tevfik; The first copyright play “Ecel-i
Kaza” is his work. He was the first person to publish three newspapers and
magazines in the same year. The first special year, name Salname-i Hadika”, was
issued by him. In addition, he published the salnames (annuals) issued by the
state for the first time in print letters. He prepared the first history of
anthological literature under the name of une Numune-i Edebiyat-ı Osmaniye”. He
published his first idea magazine “Mecmuayı Ebüzziya”. He was the first person
to be awarded a medal of merit by the West for his work in the field of
printing. The first illustrated calendar was printed in his printing press. He
was the first publisher to publish books in a collection. The name of the
series is aphane Kitaphane-i Ebüzziya.. He was the first secret organization
history writer. He wrote the history of the “New Ottomans” movement. It is the
first worker movement to defend the march of the shipyard workers to the
government center in a newspaper article. She is the editor in charge of the
first women's magazine “Terakki-i Muhadderat”. The first women’s calendar, the
Calendar of Nisa Nis, was published by him.

Ebüzziya Tevfik changed the face of
Turkish printing especially with the modern methods applied in the field of
printing. Ebüz’ziya Tevfik was influenced by the important writers of the
period, Namık Kemal and Şinasi. Although he did not receive a very good
education, he taught himself foreign languages ​​such as French, German, Arabic
and Persian. He has used the languages ​​he has learned effectively and made
translations as well as following the developments in the field of printing in
the West and contributing to the establishment of a modern printing house in
the western sense in our country.

In this article, Ebüzziya Tevfik's
life, works, thinking structure and innovations brought to the country are
discussed with a different point of view.