Zülfü Livaneli

Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu (born 20 June 1946), known as Zülfü Livaneli, is a Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician.^[1]

Zülfü Livaneli
Born	Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu (1946-06-20) 20 June 1946 (age 78)
Nationality	Turkish
Occupation(s)	Author, poet, composer, politician, human rights activist
Notable work	'Bliss, My Brother's Story, Serenade for Nadia
Spouse	Ülker Livaneli
Children	Aylin Livaneli
Awards	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)
Website	Livaneli's Official Website

Livaneli was imprisoned several times during the 1971 Turkish military memorandum for his political views, which led to his exile from Turkey in 1972.^[2] He 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.^[3] Livaneli returned to Turkey in 1984.

In 1995, UNESCO appointed him a Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO for 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.^[4] He served in the Grand National Assembly and the Council of Europe.^[5]

Personal life

Livaneli's family is of Georgian descent. His father was a judge who later became the president of the Turkish Supreme Court.^[6] 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. They have a daughter, Aylin,^[7] 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 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.^[8] 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 [de] 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.^[9][10] 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 (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.

In 1986, he met the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis and together they produced the album Güneş Topla Benim İçin (Gather The Sun For Me).^[11] After its release in Turkey, the album peaked in the Turkish music market. At that time, Livaneli met Ahmet Kaya, another folk singer. Livaneli's music achieved significant popularity 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 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 (CHP). He resigned from the CHP in early 2005, protesting "the CHP's non-democratic and authoritarian system of politics".^[12][13] 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. This amendment aimed to reduce tension 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 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.^[14] 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. 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 establishing 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's novels, such as Bliss, which won Barnes & Noble's Discovery of Great New Writers Award in 2006,^[15] 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 (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 (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) – 1982^[16]
• 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

See also

• Category:Works by Zülfü Livaneli