Mehmet Âkif Ersoy was born on December 20, 1873 and died on December 27, 1936. He is the author of the National Anthem of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). He is known by the titles of "Homeland Poet" and "National Poet". In addition to the National Anthem, Safahat, which brings together poems from Çanakkale Epic, Nightingale and seven poetry books published between 1911 and 1933, is one of his most important works. II. He was the editor-in-chief of the Sırat-ı Müstakim (later known as Sebil'ür-Reşad) magazine since the Second Constitutional Era. During the War of Independence, he took part in the 1st Parliament as a deputy.

Birth and childhood years

Mehmet Âkif Ersoy was born in Istanbul in December 1873, in the Sarıgüzel neighborhood of the Karagümrük district of the Fatih district. Akif's birthplace appears as Bayramiç on the birth certificate, since his birth registration was made in the Bayramiç district of Çanakkale, where his father was an imam and spent his early childhood years. Emine Şerif Hanım, who is the daughter of a family whose mother immigrated from Bukhara to Anatolia; His father of Albanian origin is İpekli Tahir Efendi, who was born in the city of Ipek in Kosovo and is one of the madrasah teachers of Fatih Mosque. Mehmet Tahir Efendi gave him the name "Ragîf", indicating his date of birth. Although he used the name Ragîf until his father's death, since this name was not common, his friends and mother called him "Âkif", and he adopted this name over time. Most of his childhood was spent in his mother's house in Fatih, Sarıgüzel. He also has a younger sister named Nuriye.

At the end of the poem he wrote on March 6, 1913, which started with the line "Three million people to the troubles of three brainless minds" and criticizing nationalism, "Hear this from me, I, yes, my Albanian... I can't say anything else... here is my miserable homeland! He introduced himself as Albanian in his poetry with his lines ...".

Education Years

He started his primary education at Emir Buhari Neighborhood School in Fatih when he was 4 years, 4 months and 4 days old, as was the custom of those times. After 3 years, he transferred to the primary school (primary school) and started to learn Arabic from his father. He started his secondary education at Fatih Merkez High School (1892). On the other hand, he followed Persian lessons in Fatih Mosque. Mehmet Âkif, who is very interested in language lessons, always came first in Turkish, Arabic, Persian and French throughout his education at the junior high school. The person who influenced him the most in this school was Hoca Kadri Efendi, a Turkish teacher from Hersek, who was one of the "libertarian" intellectuals of the time.

After graduating from high school, his mother wanted him to study at a madrasah, but as a result of his father's support, he enrolled in the Mulkiye High School, one of the popular schools of the time, in 1885. The loss of his father in 1888 while he was still attending the high school, and the next year, when their house was burned in the great fire of Fatih, the family fell into poverty. His father's student Mustafa Sıtkı built a small house on the same plot, and the family settled in this house. Mehmet Âkif, who wanted to have a job and study at a boarding school as soon as possible, left Mülkiye High School. He enrolled in the Agriculture and Veterinary School (Agriculture and Veterinary School), which was the first civilian veterinary school that was newly opened in those years.

Rıfat Hüsamettin Pasha, a bacteriology teacher at Veterinary School, a four-year school, was instrumental in gaining a positive love of science. He showed great interest in sports during his school years; He learned wrestling from his neighborhood friend, Kıyıcı Osman Pehlivan; participated in long walking, running and shot put competitions, especially in wrestling and swimming; His interest in poetry intensified in the last two years of school. He graduated from the veterinary department of the school with the first place in 1893.

After his graduation, Mehmet Âkif improved his French. He became a hafiz by memorizing the Qur'an within 6 months. He started his career as a civil servant, with a gazel each published in the Treasury-i Fünun Magazine in 1893 and 1894, and his poem "Addressing the Qur'an" in the Mektep Magazine in 1895.

Civil Service Years

Mehmet Âkif, who became a civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture (Forest, Vaadin and Agriculture Ministry) right after graduating from school, continued his civil service life between 1893 and 1913. His first assignment in the ministry was as an assistant veterinary inspector. His office was in Istanbul, but he was in Rumeli, Anatolia, Albania and Arabia for inspections in the first four years of his service. In this way, he had the opportunity to be in close contact with the public. During a trip, he went to İpek Town, his father's birthplace, and met his uncles. In 1898, he married İsmet Hanım, the daughter of Mehmet Emin Bey, the treasurer of Tophane-i Âmire; Their children, Cemile, Feride, Suadi, Emin and Tahir, were born from this marriage.

Mehmet Âkif continued his interest in literature by writing poetry and teaching literature. His poems and articles were published in the Servet-i Fünun magazine in the Resimli Gazete. While he was in Istanbul, he was appointed as a teacher to teach composition (inscriptions) at Halkalı Agriculture and Veterinary School (1906), and then Turkish at the Farming Machinist School (1907).

Writing the National Anthem

At the same time, upon the request of the Minister of National Education, Hamdullah Suphi, his friend Hasan Basri Bey persuaded him to participate in the national anthem competition. None of the poems sent until that time were found sufficient for this competition, which he initially refused to participate in because of the 500 lira prize offered, and the opinion was in the assembly that Mehmet Âkif would write the most beautiful poem. Upon Mehmet Âkif's acceptance to participate in the competition, some poets withdrew their poems from the competition. The National Anthem, which the poet dedicated to the army, was published in Sırat-ı Müstakim and Hâkimiyet-i Milliye on 17 February. It was accepted as the national anthem at 17.45 on Saturday, March 12, 1921, after being read and listened to by Hamdullah Suphi Bey in the parliament. Akif donated 500 liras, which was given as a reward, to the Dar'ül Mesai foundation, which teaches women and children to work and sews clothes for the front, within the body of Hilal-i Ahmer.

Return to Turkey and death

When he fell ill with cirrhosis, he first went to Lebanon and then to Antakya, thinking that a change of weather would be good, but he returned to Egypt sick. He returned to Istanbul for treatment on 17 June 1936. He died on 27 December 1936 in the Mısır Apartment in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. He was buried in Edirnekapı Cemetery. His tomb was built two years later by university students; In 1960, his grave was transferred to Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery due to road construction. His grave is among the graves of Süleyman Nazif and his friend Ahmet Naim Bey.

As of June 1, 1936, Mehmet Âkif received a pension of 478 liras and 20 kuruş. This salary began to be paid as of October 1936 and received a total of 2976 liras. On the last page of the pensioner's wallet, the phrase "600 lira debt" is written. After this debt was paid off, the remaining portion was given to his family and Mehmet Âkif passed away two months later.