Zülfü Livaneli
Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu, better known as Zülfü Livaneli, is a Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician.
Livaneli was imprisoned several times during the 1971 Turkish military memorandum for his political views, which led to his exile from Turkey in 1972. He lived in Stockholm, Paris, Athens, and New York City, where he met and collaborated with artists and intellectuals such as Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, James Baldwin, and Peter Ustinov. Livaneli returned to Turkey in 1984.
In 1995, UNESCO appointed him a Goodwill Ambassador for his cultural works, political activities, and contributions to world peace. He resigned from this position in 2016 to protest what he described as the Turkish State's damage to the historic Kurdish Old Town of Diyarbakir.
He was a member of the Grand National Assembly and Turkish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Personal life
Livaneli's family is of Georgian descent. His father, Mustafa Sabri Livanelioğlu, held various judicial positions before serving as the First Deputy President of the Court of Cassation from September 1977 to July 1983. He has four brothers and a sister. His mother died at the age of 38 when he was 20, after which his father remarried. Livaneli married translator Ülker Tunçay in 1964. They have a daughter, Aylin, who was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 1966.Musical career
For his debut album, Livaneli used the pseudonym "Ozanohad Glu". He later adopted his current name, Zülfü Livaneli, which appeared on his subsequent album, Chants Révolutionnaires Turcs, released in 1973. While in Europe, his brother Ferhat informed him that large crowds in Turkey were singing his songs 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. 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 by German director Helma Sanders-Brahms. He has produced albums, 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. 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 awards including the Best Album of the Year Award, the Edison Award, Best Album of the Year, and the Premio Luigi Tenco Best Songwriter Award at the San Remo in 1999.
Livaneli's music achieved significant popularity in the 1980s. In 1986, he met the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. Together they produced the album Güneş Topla Benim İçin. After its release in Turkey, the album peaked in the Turkish music market. At that time, Livaneli met Ahmet Kaya, another folk singer. The London Symphony Orchestra performed with Livaneli in 1998 and, in 1999, UNESCO assisted Livaneli in releasing 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 a candidate for mayor of Istanbul for 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. He resigned from the CHP in early 2005, in protest against "the CHP's non-democratic and authoritarian system of politics." 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", suggesting language that aimed to reflect a more inclusive definition of national identity. The amendment was intended to reduce tension associated with the concept of the 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 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 has since concentrated on his art and books.
Livaneli was a daily columnist for 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. 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 considered one of the most notable Turkish films of the decade and one of the first narrative films to address honour killings. The New York Times reviewed the film as "consistently gripping" and "visually intoxicating", calling it a "landmark of contemporary Turkish cinema".
Literature
After establishing his music career, Livaneli focused on writing. Published in 1978, his first collection of short stories, A Child in Purgatory, was adapted into a movie by Swedish and German TV. Livaneli's novels, such as Bliss, which won the Barnes & Noble Discovery of Great New Writers Award in 2006, and his works Serenade for Nadia, Leyla's House, and My Brother's Story, 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 Orta Zekalılar Cenneti Diktatör ve Palyaço Sosyalizm Öldü mü? Engereğin Gözündeki Kamaşma Bir Kedi, Bir Adam, Bir Ölüm Mutluluk Gorbaçov'la Devrim Üstüne Konuşmalar Leyla'nın Evi Son Ada Sevdalim Hayat Sanat Uzun, Hayat Kısa Serenad Edebiyat Mutluluktur Kardeşimin Hikayesi Son Ada'nın Çocukları Konstantiniyye Oteli Elia ile Yolculuk Huzursuzluk Rüzgârlar Hep Gençtir- ''Kaplanın Sırtında''
Partial discography
Chants Révolutionnaires Turcs – 1973Yasak Plak – 1971–1974 Eşkıya Dünyaya Hükümdar Olmaz – 1976Merhaba – 1977Nazım Türküsü – 1978The Bus – 1978Alamanya Beyleri – 1979Atlının Türküsü – 1979Günlerimiz – 1980İnce Memet Türküsü – 1980Anadoluyum Ben – 1981Maria Farandouri Söylüyor Zülfü Livaneli – 1982Yol – 1983Eine Auswahl – 1983Ada – 1983–1984İstanbul Konseri – 1984Güneş Topla Benim İçin – 1986Livaneli / 10 Yılın Ezgisi – 1986Zor Yıllar – 1987Hoşgeldin Bebek – 1987Gökyüzü Herkesindir – 1988- Soundtracks – 1988Crossroads – 1991Saat 4 Yoksun – 1992Sevgiyle −1994Neylersin – 1994Yangın Yeri – 1996Janus – 1996Livaneli & Theodorakis : Together – 1997Nefesim Nefesine – 1998New Age Rhapsody, London Symphony Orchestra Plays Livaneli – 1998–1999Unutulmayanlar – 1999İlk Türküler – 2001Hayata Dair – 2005Suyun Belleği – 2005Efsane Konserler – 200635. Yıl Konseri – 2008
- "Gökkuşağı Gönder Bana" – 2013Livaneli 50. Yıl "Bir Kuşaktan Bir Kuşağa" – 2016