A Sip of Human, Who is Bearded Celâl?

There are such people who add meaning and meaning to life with their touches on the bam wire of life. We recognise some of them. Some of them are waiting to be brought out of their places in the dusty pages of history and brought together with us. What such people do is actually nothing but the gold leaf writings of virtue on the pages of history. They may have lived a simple life, but the good morals and virtuous deeds they left behind are told and told among the people. In short, they do not die, they continue to live. Today I would like to introduce to you Celâl the Bearded, who is such a sip of human being. 

Bearded Celâl was born in Istanbul as the son of a pasha who was the Minister of the Navy at the time. While his peers were playing with toys, he astonished his household by learning letters by himself at a young age. During his primary school years, he did not leave his room in the mansion and read the books of his older brothers who attended the Naval High School in those years. Despite his father's protestations that he was "still young", he took French lessons and soon learnt French perfectly. In 1896, he entered the best school of the period, Galatasaray High School. Since his French was very good, he passed the preparatory class at this school without studying. He achieved extraordinary success in his studies at Galatasaray High School. The years he spent at this school were very influential on his free, independent and enlightened personality. When he graduated, he was fluent in French and had a Galatasaray diploma that opened every door. 

When Tevfik Fikret became the principal of Galatasaray High School, he did not let this man of genius slip through his fingers and made him teach at the school. He taught many young people like Nâzım Hikmet. He told his students, "The jacket hanging in the corridor is mine. I have money in the pocket. You can take as much as you need." He was a generous man. 

In those years, the Ottoman Empire sent 35 young people with strong French skills to France and Switzerland for higher education. Celâl was one of them. He started to study Political Science at Sorbonne. He writes a letter to his family and asks the state elders to help him transfer to Mechanical Engineering, and if not accepted, to pay for his education with their own money, but the family refuses. The elders of the family replied, "Study whatever the state deems appropriate". As a rejection to this, he started to grow his beard that day, never to cut it again. 

He exchanged ideas with the greatest writers, poets and thinkers of France. His free mind becomes more enlightened. "Enough of eating the state's money", he says, and returns to his country without a diploma. He was sent to Skopje as a French teacher. Here, students and the public admire him. He builds a football field in front of the school with his own money. He brought balls from France. He had the students sew underpants and undershirts. He teaches football. But the bigots in the region complain about him and expel him from the school. The reason; football was a sin! Because the Yazites cut off the head of Hz. Hussein and played it like a ball on the ground, football represented him. Therefore, it was not possible for them to favour playing football. 

Upon this bigotry, he was forced to return to Istanbul. He learnt that Mustafa Kemal and his soldiers were in a difficult situation in Tripolitania. He fills a boat with ammunition and sets off. However, when a British patrol boat intercepted them on the way, he opposed his friends' idea of "we have guns, let's fight"; "we will use our minds, not guns. With his marvellous language and political knowledge, he convinces the British commander that they are taking these weapons to the Tunisian mujahideen resisting the French, and thanks to his quick wit, he delivers these weapons to Mustafa Kemal first hand. 

Afterwards, he wanted to become a soldier and be recruited, but he was told that "the country needs teachers" and was sent to Kastamonu High School as a French teacher. It was a period of poverty, disease and ignorance. There was syphilis in the city and he fought against it. In addition to foreign language, he teaches history and life sciences to the students. The bigoted mentality targets her once again. They complain to Istanbul, saying, "She walks around with her head uncovered in a religious place, tells children about the French revolution, and makes them play footballs, which is a sin". He was dismissed and sent to İzmit High School. 

Here she met the great poet Yusuf Ziya Ortaç. After his death, Ortaç would show the greatness of their friendship by saying, "I did not go to Celâl Bey's funeral. Can one walk behind one's own coffin?". Bearded Celâl was then appointed as an assistant principal at Ankara High School. Here, he constantly advises his students to be enlightened, to use their minds and to stay away from superstitions. "Children can learn religion at home and in the mosque, but they cannot easily learn French", he says, and reduces the time allocated for religion lessons and increases the time allocated for French lessons. The sewer of the school overflows, and when no one takes care of it, he opens it himself. They reproach the deputy principal for doing this job, and he is dismissed from his job. As a reaction, Bearded Celâl finds a painter's trunk the next day and paints the shoes of his students in front of the school. He breaks the legislation and brings a female teacher from Istanbul for the first time in Turkey and assigns her to this school. He received a great reaction. 

While she was at Ankara High School, the Ministry sent a letter to the school. The letter reads, "Since there is a shortage of students in higher education, the last and previous grades should be graduated regardless of their status". Without waiting, he resigns from his teaching job for good, saying that this is not a "painter's cube".

In order to make a living, he enters a fig factory in Aydın as a labourer. He taught the factory management and producers how to develop fig and grape cultivation, transport, drying and packaging with modern techniques. Fluent in French, excellent with a gun and able to repair the factory's complex machinery, this man becomes a sought-after figure and becomes the "foreman" at the factory. Meanwhile, he continues his educational work, teaching the workers to read, write and speak French. He teaches modern techniques to the factory owner and co-operatives to the farmers. When this good man gives his own salary to a sick worker and a poor peasant to provide for their needs, the others denounce him as a Communist. The police raid his house, and when they find no Communist documents, they ask where the documents are. Bearded Celâl, who also has a witty personality, points to the inside of his head and replies "Here it is". As for the portrait of Marx on the wall, he says "it is my grandfather". 

One day, while working in a factory, his right index finger got stuck in the machine and the tip broke off. "It was my communist finger, nothing will happen," he replies to those who ask him. One day, overwhelmed by the slander against him, he distributes all the belongings in his house to the workers and returns to Ankara with a sack of books. From there he moved to Istanbul. In Istanbul, the greatest poets, writers, lawyers and prominent families of the period who knew him invited him to their homes to listen to his conversation. Because he has marvellous knowledge and speaking skills. He finds the salary of the garbage men low. To protest this, he starts sweeping in front of the Governor's mansion. At that time, Rasih Nuri İleri and his teacher Prof. Kerim Erim were passing by. İleri later recounted that day as follows: "My teacher, Professor Kerim Erim suddenly jumped up and started kissing the hand of a bearded scavenger sweeping the floor.

Although Bearded Celâl suffered from financial difficulties, he never accepted financial aid from anyone throughout his life. Mehmet İsvan, who grew up under his care, later became a very rich businessman. He opens an account for his teacher, but after his death, he sees that Bearded Celâl has not touched a single cent of the money in this account. 

Celâl never smoked or drank alcohol throughout his life. His words "Turkey is a country of people running to the west on the deck of a ship travelling to the east" and "In this country, those who are interested are uninformed, those who are informed are indifferent." belong to him. 

In 1962, before he passed away, he said in his will: "I love Mustafa Kemal. I die with a strong longing for him. I would like to kiss and smell him". 

Orhan Karaveli, the author of the work "Bearded Celal", which I used as a source while preparing this article, says: "Mr Bearded Celal had only one wish, for Turkey to follow the path of Atatürk and reach the bright days." 

With respect and love