Zülfü Livaneli

{{Multiple issues|{{BLP sources|date=October 2015}}{{peacock|date=March 2017}}}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Zülfü Livaneli

| image = Zülfü Livaneli 2018 (cropped).jpg

| birth_name = Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|06|20|df=y}}

| nationality = Turkish

| death_date =

| death_place =

| occupation = Author, poet, composer, politician, human rights activist

| awards = [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?category_id=1288465 Barnes & Noble 'Discovery of a Great New Author Award', 2006 (Bliss)] – Balkan Literary Award for 'Best Novel', 1997 (The Eunuch of Constantinople) – Yunus Nadi Literary Award for 'Best Novel', 2001 (Memory of Snow)] – Orhan Kemal Literary Award for 'Best Novel', 2009 (Last Island)

| notable_works = 'Bliss, My Brother's Story, [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11085413-serenad Serenade for Nadia]

| spouse = Ülker Livaneli

| children = Aylin Livaneli

| networth =

| website = [http://www.livaneli.net/ Livaneli's Official Website]

}}

Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu (born 20 June 1946), known as Zülfü Livaneli, is a Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician.{{Cite web|title=Omer Zülfü Livaneli {{!}} United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/goodwill-ambassadors/former-goodwill-ambassadors/omer-zuelfue-livaneli/|access-date=2020-09-25|publisher=UNESCO}}

Livaneli was imprisoned several times during the 1971 Turkish military memorandum because of his political views, leading to his exile from Turkey in 1972.{{Cite web |title=Reuters - Turkish writer quits UNESCO to protest damage to heritage, rights abuse |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/turkish-writer-quits-unesco-to-protest-damage-to-heritage-rights-abuse-idUSKCN0YH1J4/}} He has lived in Stockholm, Paris, Athens, and New York, where he met and collaborated with artists and intellectuals such as Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, James Baldwin, and Peter Ustinov.https://www.unesco.org/en/paragraph-resource/129692/50?hub=103598 Livaneli returned to Turkey in 1984.

In 1995, UNESCO appointed him as a Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO in recognition of his cultural works, political activities, and contributions to world peace. He resigned from this position in 2016 to protest the Turkish State's damage to the historic Kurdish Old Town of Diyarbakir.{{Cite news |last1=Yackley |first1=Ayla Jean |date=26 May 2016 |title=Turkish writer quits UNESCO to protest damage to heritage, rights abuse |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-rights-un/turkish-writer-quits-unesco-to-protest-damage-to-heritage-rights-abuse-idUSKCN0YH1KA}} He served in the Grand National Assembly and the Council of Europe.Daily Sabah, "Award-winning Turkish educator to address European Parliament," January 4, 2019, https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2019/01/04/award-winning-turkish-educator-to-address-european-parliament

Personal life

Livaneli's family is of Georgian descent. His father was a judge and later became the president of the Turkish Supreme Court.{{Cite web |title=Wayback Machine |url=https://www.yargitay.gov.tr/documents/ek1-1550235943.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240516050015/https://www.yargitay.gov.tr/documents/ek1-1550235943.pdf |archive-date=2024-05-16 |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=www.yargitay.gov.tr}} He has four brothers and a sister. His mother died at the age of 38 when he was 20, after which his father remarried. His wife, Ülker, is a translator, and they have a daughter, Aylin,{{Cite web |title=Aylin Livaneli |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/948036-Aylin-Livaneli?srsltid=AfmBOoo1a290t4zRs5V-D1tl0roOx4UVDotGDKgI377RHYFqE30iG4M8 |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Discogs |language=en}} who was born in Ankara, Turkey.

In March 2020, Livaneli announced that he and his wife contracted the coronavirus during a visit to New York in February amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Following treatment, both recovered fully and were quarantined in Turkey.

Musical career

For his debut album, Livaneli used the pseudonym "Ozanoglu." He later adopted his current name, Zülfü Livaneli, which appeared on his subsequent album, *Chants Révolutionnaires Turcs* (Turkish Revolutionary Songs), released in either 1971 or 1973. While in Europe, his brother Ferhat informed him that his songs were being sung by large crowds in Turkey during protests. In response, Livaneli created an album titled *Nazim Türküsü*, setting his music to the poems of Nâzım Hikmet. The album remained on the music charts for 48 weeks.

Livaneli has composed three hundred songs, a rhapsody recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ballet.{{Cite web |title=Zülfü Livaneli Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio &... |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/z%C3%BClf%C3%BC-livaneli-mn0001735066 |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=AllMusic |language=en}} His compositions have been performed by artists such as Joan Baez, Maria Farantouri, Maria del Mar Bonet, Udo Lindenberg, Haris Alexiou, Jocelyn B. Smith, and Kate Westbrook. He has also written five plays and thirty film soundtracks, including for "Yol" (The Path), directed by Yılmaz Güney and winner of the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival; "The Herd", directed by Yılmaz Güney and Zeki Ökten; and "Shirin's Wedding" by German director Helma Sanders-Brahms. He has produced albums and performed with Mikis Theodorakis and Maria Farantouri, and collaborated with Manos Hatzidakis, Giora Feidman, Inti-Illimani and Ángel Parra. According to reports, his 1997 Ankara concert drew an audience of approximately 500,000 people.[http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2005/01/19/siy101.html CHP'de barış, yurtta barış, dünyada barış], Sabah, 19 January 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2008.{{Cite web |title=Zülfü Livaneli |url=https://www.biyografya.com/biyografi/4515 |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.biyografya.com |language=en}} In 2010, he sang 'Mothers of The Disappeared' with Bono at U2's concert in Istanbul, Turkey, U2's first concert in Istanbul. Livaneli has received the Best Album of the Year Award (Greece), the Edison Award (Holland), Best Album of the Year (Music Critics Guild of Germany), and the "Premio Luigi Tenco" Best Songwriter Award at the San Remo in 1999, among others.

In 1986, he met the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis and together, they produced the album Güneş Topla Benim İçin (Gather The Sun For Me).{{Cite web |title=Zülfü Livaneli |url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/947490-Z%C3%BClf%C3%BC-Livaneli?srsltid=AfmBOoqIlGxralWTz755tMXF-l2SV0KCq5q1lIW3-9CtsR1beYkkZRPw |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Discogs |language=en}} After its release in Turkey, it peaked in the Turkish music market. At that time, Livaneli met Ahmet Kaya, another folk singer. Livaneli reached his first musical peak in the 1980s. The London Orchestra performed with Livaneli in 1998, and in 1999, UNESCO assisted Livaneli on the release of that album.

Political life

In addition to his career as an author and poet, Livaneli was active in Turkish politics. In the 1994 Turkish local elections, he was nominated as a candidate for mayor of Istanbul by the Social Democratic Populist Party, but was not elected. In the 2002 Turkish general election, Livaneli was elected to the Grand National Assembly as a Deputy for Istanbul for the Republican People's Party (CHP). He resigned from the CHP in early 2005, protesting "the CHP's non-democratic and authoritarian system of politics".[http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_world_16874653_25/02/2005_53388 Two Turk MPs resign from their parties, highlighting tensions. {{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}[http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2005/02/24/604347.asp Zülfü Livaneli CHP'den istifa etti. {{in lang|tr}} Livaneli served one term in the Turkish parliament.

During his political career, Livaneli presented a legislative proposal to amend Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, proposing that the concept of "Turkishness" be replaced with that of the "Turkish nation," proposing language that aimed to reflect a more inclusive definition of national identity. This amendment aimed to reduce stress associated with the notion of Turkish race.

In 2006, he presented a proposal to the National Assembly to establish a commission to investigate the reasons for increasing violence and fanaticism among youth, which was accepted.

Following his 2005 resignation from the party, Livaneli continued in his position in the Grand National Assembly as an independent until the end of that term. He did not participate in the 2007 Turkish elections and appears politically inactive, concentrating on his art and books.

Livaneli was a daily columnist in the newspapers Sabah, Vatan, Milliyet and Cumhuriyet.

Films

Livaneli directed four feature films: Iron Earth, Copper Sky, Mist, Shahmaran and Veda. His film Iron Earth, Copper Sky was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/454/year/1987.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Iron Earth, Copper Sky |access-date=2009-07-23|work=festival-cannes.com}} Veda, based on the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is the last film written and directed by Zülfü Livaneli.

Bliss, adapted from Livaneli's novel of the same name, received critical praise and was one of the notable Turkish films of the decade and one of the first narrative films to address honor killings. New York Times reviewed the film as consistently gripping and visually intoxicating, calling it a landmark of contemporary Turkish cinema.

Literature

Livaneli focused on writing after gaining notability with his music career. Published in 1978, his first collection of short stories, A Child in Purgatory, was adapted into a movie by Swedish and German TV. Livaneli is known for novels that interweave diverse social and historical backgrounds, figures, and incidents, such as in Bliss, which won Barnes & Noble's Discovery of Great New Writers Award in 2006,[http://www.barnesandnoble.com/awards/index.asp?PID=17916 Discover Great New Writers: 2008 Discover Award Archive], Barnes & Noble, 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2008. and in his Serenade for Nadia, Leyla's House, and My Brother's Story, which have been translated into multiple languages and received both Turkish and international literary recognition. His novels have been adapted into films, stage plays, and operas.

Publications

Arafat'ta Bir Çocuk (A Child in Purgatory) (1978)
Orta Zekalılar Cenneti (The Heaven of the Mediocre) (1991)
Diktatör ve Palyaço (The Dictator and the Clown) (1992)
Sosyalizm Öldü mü? (Is Socialism Dead?) (1994)
Engereğin Gözündeki Kamaşma (The Eunuch Of Constantinople) (1996)
Bir Kedi, Bir Adam, Bir Ölüm (Memory Of Snow) (2001)
Mutluluk (Bliss) (2002)
Gorbaçov'la Devrim Üstüne Konuşmalar (Conversations With Gorbachov On Revolution) (2003)
Leyla'nın Evi (Leyla's House) (2006)
Son Ada (The Last Island) (2008)
Sevdalim Hayat (Sevdalim Hayat) (2009)
Sanat Uzun, Hayat Kısa (Art is Long, Life is Short) (2010)
Serenad (Serenade) (2011)
Edebiyat Mutluluktur (Literature is Bliss) (2012)
Kardeşimin Hikayesi (My Brother's Story) (2013)
Son Ada'nın Çocukları (Last Island's Kids) (2014)
Konstantiniyye Oteli (Constantinople hotel) (2015)
Elia ile Yolculuk (2017)
Huzursuzluk (2017)
Rüzgârlar Hep Gençtir (2019)
Kaplanın Sırtında (2021)

Partial discography

Chants Révolutionnaires Turcs (Turkish Revolutionary songs) – 1973
Yasak Plak – 1971–1974
Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz (Bandit Cannot be a Ruler of the World) – 1976
Merhaba (Hello!) – 1977
Nazım Türküsü (Nazim's Song) – 1978
The Bus (OST) – 1978
Alamanya Beyleri – 1979
Atlının Türküsü (The Horsemen Song) – 1979
Günlerimiz (Our Days) – 1980
İnce Memet Türküsü (Thin Memet Song) – 1980
Anadoluyum Ben (I Am An Anatolian) – 1981
Maria Farandouri Söylüyor Zülfü Livaneli (Maria Farandouri Singing Livaneli) – 1982Rosie Ayliffe Turkey p.1048 1843530716

2003 – From the early 1980s, this was a landmark collaboration between historical enemies: Greek star Maria Farandouri singing Livaneli compositions in both Greek and Turkish. Beautiful ..."

Yol (The Way) (Soundtrack) – 1983
Eine Auswahl (A Selection) – 1983
Ada (Island) – 1983–1984
İstanbul Konseri (Istanbul Concert) – 1984
Güneş Topla Benim İçin (Gather The Sun For Me) – 1986
Livaneli / 10 Yılın Ezgisi (10 Melodies of the Year)– 1986
Zor Yıllar (Difficult Years) – 1987
Hoşgeldin Bebek (Welcome Baby) – 1987
Gökyüzü Herkesindir (Sky Belongs to Everybody) – 1988
Soundtracks – 1988
Crossroads (New Age) – 1991
Saat 4 Yoksun (Hour 4, You Are Not Here) – 1992
Sevgiyle (With Love) −1994
Neylersin – 1994
Yangın Yeri (The Place in Fire) – 1996
Janus (Symphonic Poems) – 1996
Livaneli & Theodorakis : Together – 1997
Nefesim Nefesine (My Breath to Your Breath) – 1998
New Age Rhapsody, London Symphony Orchestra Plays Livaneli – 1998–1999
Unutulmayanlar (Unforgettable Ones) – 1999
İlk Türküler (First Songs) – 2001
Hayata Dair (About Life) – 2005
Suyun Belleği (The Memory of Water) – 2005
Efsane Konserler (Best Concerts) – 2006
35. Yıl Konseri (35th Year Concert) – 2008
Gökkuşağı Gönder Bana (Send Me a Rainbow) – 2013
Livaneli 50. Yıl "Bir Kuşaktan Bir Kuşağa (Livaneli 50th Year - 'From One Generation to Another') – 2016

References

External links

{{IMDb name|id=0515101}}
[http://www.livaneli.net/ Official website in English]
[http://www.livaneli.gen.tr/ Official website in Turkish]
{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.info-turk.be/livaneli.htm Zülfü Livaneli – Préliminaires du premier disque "Chants révolutionnaires turcs"]

Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:Turkish people of Georgian descent

Category:People from Artvin

Category:Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey) politicians

Category:Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians

Category:Best Music Score Golden Orange Award winners

Category:Golden Orange Life Achievement Award winners

Category:TED Ankara College Foundation Schools alumni

Category:Turkish columnists

Category:Turkish film directors

Category:Turkish male singers