Name Enderunlu Fazil | Role Poet Books Book on women | |
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Enderûnlu Fâzıl (1757–1810) was an Ottoman poet who depicted the beauty of men from various lands of the Ottoman Empire. An openly homosexual writer, his books stands as a rare example of LGBT literature in the Empire.
Contents
He achieved fame through his erotic works, which were published posthumously. Among his most famous works is The Book of Women, which was banned in the Ottoman Empire. The book describes the advantages and disadvantages of women from different nations.
Life
Fâzıl was the grandson of Zahir Ömer and son of Ali Tâhir, who were both executed in 1775 and 1776 for participating in a rebellion. After his father's death, he moved to Istanbul. There, he was admitted to the Enderun palace school, but was expelled in 1783 as a result of his homoerotic love affairs.
In 1799 he was exiled to Rhodes because of his satirical writings and was only allowed to return to Istanbul after becoming blind. He spent the rest of his life there, ill and bedridden. He is buried in a tomb in Eyüp.
The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, controlled by the ruling Islamic-based Justice and Development Party, claim on their website that it was a "misfortune" that Fâzıl was "fond of physical pleasures" and "used obscenities in his work", saying that by doing this, he "exposed the weaker sides of his personality".