İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal – the epitome of late Ottoman culture

Abstract

İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal was born in Istanbul as the son of a Pasha and, spending his entire working life as a bureaucrat, reached the highest levels in the Ottoman Civil Service. His career spanned the last years of the Ottoman Empire as well as the first decades of the Turkish Republic. As a result, he became uniquely qualified to write about people and events he had witnessed. He had a remarkably keen memory, and a high level of accomplishment in Arabic, Persian and French. With deep interests in literature, history, calligraphy, art and Turkish classical music, he almost became a one-man cultural institution. As a lifelong bachelor, he spent much time and effort in order to produce several encyclopaedic works on late Ottoman history, literature, music and culture.