Nâzım Hikmet

Mehmed Nâzım Ran was born on 17 January 1902 and became known as Nâzım Hikmet, writing poetry, plays, novels, screenplays, and memoirs across a restless career. Critics praised the "lyrical flow of his statements" and called him a "romantic communist" and a "romantic revolutionary" — labels that came with a cost. He was arrested repeatedly for his political beliefs, and the cycle of prison and exile consumed most of his adult years. He died on 3 June 1963, but the work outlasted the borders that held him.