Portrait: Hamid Aytaç, Part 1
Exploring the Artistic Journey and Legacy of Hamit Aytaç, Renowned Turkish Calligrapher in the 20th Century.
Family
Calligrapher Hâmid Aytaç was born in 1893 in the city of Diyarbakır, then called Amid. His real name is Musa Azmi. His father is Zülfikar Ağa, one of the grandchildren of the calligrapher Âdem-i Âmidî (mentioned in Müstakimzâde’s Tuhfe-i Hattatîn, one of the most comprehensive works on Islamic Calligraphy and Calligraphers), and his mother, Müntehâ Hanım. Hâmid Bey’s great-grandfather was also a calligrapher.
First Years in Diyarbakır & First Encounter with Calligraphy
Hamid Aytaç took his love of writing and his first writing lessons from his teacher in primary school, Mustafa Akif (Tütenk), who played a significant role in his education. He later became the first-term Diyarbakır deputy of the Grand National Assembly. After Hamid Bey graduated from the Primary School, he enrolled in the Military High School. He learned thuluth from Captain Hilmi Bey and Ruq’ah from Vahid Efendi there. He also took Thuluth and Naskh lessons from Hoca Esad Efendi and Ahmed Hilmi Efendi.
When he lost a year in school due to his interest in writing, his father forbade him to deal with calligraphy. However, The award he received for a tughra written for Sultan Abdulhamid the Second on the anniversary of his enthronement made him begin to engage in writing again.
They gave me a gold lira in return for my work. I ran home with joy. I told my father, “The municipality commissioned me, so they gave this in return.”
Aytaç describes this event in his own words: “On the occasion of Sultan Abdulhamid II’s enthronement anniversary, the text “Long Live My Sultan” would be written on a white cloth, and it would be hung in the square at night, illuminated by a lamp from the back. I can’t remember it now. But I helped my calligraphy teacher, who was commissioned for the work by writing the tughra, the sultan’s signature. My uncle was a civil servant in the municipality then.
He saw my work and informed other people. I was afraid of my father. They gave me a gold lira in return for my work. I ran home with joy. I told my father, “The municipality commissioned me, so they gave this in return.” He didn’t believe it. “You’re lying, he said. Did you find this money, or did you steal it?” I said, “I neither found nor stole it.” When his father, Zülfikar Ağa, later confirmed the situation from his nephew working in the municipality, he gave up the writing ban he had imposed on his son and paid the expiation for his oath.
Thus, after graduating from Military High School and Diyarbakır High School, he went to Istanbul for higher education in 1908.
In İstanbul
After attending Mekteb-i Nüvvâb (the name Mekteb-i Kudât after 1910) for a year, he enrolled in Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi with the influence of his teachers who saw his talent for art. However, he could not complete his education because he had to work to earn a living after his father’s death. He started to work as a calligraphy and painting teacher at Gülşen-i Maârif School in Haseki and also dealt with the printing business.
Enjoyed So Far?
Read Part 2 on our Substack: https://notesonpaper.substack.com/p/portrait-calligrapher-ismail-hakk-0de
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Originally published at https://notesonpaper.substack.com.
