Abstract

As the 'last representative' of the tezkire tradition, which existed from the 15th century to the 20th century, Ibnulemin Mahmut Kemal Inal drafted a collection of biographies and examples of poets, grand viziers, calligraphers and musicians. Undoubtedly, it is these works that make him visible in the history of literature. However, his writings, which were published in periodicals of the period and not yet transferred to new letters, are also remarkable texts, such as tezkires and monographs. Although these writings have not been written with a theoretical method, they are important in that they reflect the views of a person who is busy with biography intensely in his long writing life. In his articles titled “Meşâhir-i Osmaniyye”, “Eser-Müessir”, “Âsâr-ı Muhallede” and “Meşâhir-i Meçhûle” published in magazines named, <em>Resimli Gazete </em>ve <em>Türk Tarih Encümeni Mecmuası </em>Ibnulemin expresses his views on the concepts of ‘biography’ and ‘literary work.’ Ibnulemin, who draws attention to the importance and necessity of biography works, which he sees as a document of reverence against predecessors, expresses the difficulties of writing biographies. He also states that, regardless of the fame of the literary figure, the most important thing to consider is work. In this article, based on Ibnulemin's articles published in periodicals, his views on the concepts of biography and work will be examined.