1864? - 1932
Turkish journalist and short-story writer.
Born in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire, Rasim grew up in poverty after his father, a Cypriot postal official, divorced his mother. Forced to attend school at an orphanage, he graduated at the head of his class. After a short period as a postal worker, he began to work as a journalist; for the next forty-eight years, he wrote in the major Istanbul newspapers. He was also an elected member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from 1927 to 1932 in Atatürk's new Republic of Turkey.
Rasim's writings are characterized by his incorporation of the folklore and anecdotes of daily life in Istanbul. Using sparse language, he captured the vitality of the different neighborhoods of the city, making him an important source of information about the daily existence of Old Turkey. Rasim's contributions to Turkish literature also include memoirs, travelogues, historical accounts, and articles on various subjects.
Bibliography
Mitler, Louis. Ottoman Turkish Writers: A Bibliographical Dictionary of Significant Figures in Pre-Republican Turkish Literature. New York: P. Lang, 1988.
— DAVID WALDNER
