Aka Gündüz

(pseudonym of Enis Avni). Born 1885; died Nov. 7, 1958. Turkish writer; son of a soldier.

Aka Gündüz took part in the Young Turk revolution of 1908 and was a deputy to the Great National Assembly (1932–46). He wrote novels, short stories, plays, and newspaper and magazine articles. Many of his works dealt with Turkish peasants, presenting an idealized picture of their customs and mores. In his later books he dealt with the national liberation struggle of the Turkish people—for example, the novels Dikmen’s Star (1928), The Unknown Soldier (1930), Daughters of This Earth (1935), and The Stepmother (1933). The topics of the last two novels were social and ethical problems, the conditions of women, and the upbringing of youth. The work of Aka Gündüz played a great role in the democratization of the Turkish literary language.