Suat Dervis

(pen names, Hatitzhe Hatib, Suweida Hatib, Suat Susan). Born 1903 in Istanbul; died there July 23, 1972. Turkish writer and public figure.

Suat Dervis graduated from the faculty of literature at the University of Berlin in 1930. She was the publisher of the newspaper Yeni edebiyat (1940–41), in which the works of many modern Turkish writers were first printed. Suat Dervis organized Turkey’s first trade union of printers and was its chairman from 1939 to 1947. From 1953 to 1963 she lived in Europe.

Suat Dervis began publishing in 1919. Her views were greatly influenced by her collaboration with Nazim Hikmet Ran on the progressive magazine Resimli ay. She was threatened with a long prison term for publishing the essay Why I Am a Friend of the Soviet Union (1944; Russian translation, 1954), in which she criticized Pan-Turkism.

Suat Dervis published many collections of short stories and novels. Her most important humanist works, which combined romanticism with a realistic portrayal of the Turkish lower classes, included the novels Emine (1931), The Phosphoric Dzhevrie (1948; Russian translation, 1957), and Shadows of a House (1966). Suat Devis attacked fascism and war, social inequality, and the humiliation of women. Her works have been translated into many languages. She visited the USSR several times.