Hüseyin Cemil Meriç (December 12, 1916 – June 13, 1987) was a Turkish writer and translator who wrote various articles in social sciences and contributed to Turkish literature with his twelve books in the twentieth century.
Early life
He was born in Reyhaniye (today's Reyhanlı) in 1916. He was the child of a family who had migrated from Dimetoka during the Balkan Wars. His father, Mahmut Niyazi Bey, who was a judge in Dimetoka, and his mother was Zeynep Ziynet Hanım. His father Mahmut Niyazi Bey served as the Head of Ziraat Bank Directorate and the head of court in Antakya. Cemil Meriç, who lived in Antakya until the age of seven, returned to Reyhanlı with his family after his father left the office. After finishing primary school in Reyhanlı High School, he went to Antakya again. He studied in Le Lycée d'Antakya, which implemented a French education system in the city under the French administration. While at this school, his eyes were found to be 6 degrees myopic. His first article, "A Late Accounting" was published in the local Yenigün newspaper. When he was in his twelfth grade, he had to leave school without getting a high school diploma because of his nationalist attitude in a published article and his criticism of some of his teachers. He went to Pertevniyal High School in Istanbul to continue his high school education. Meanwhile, he met with the leftist intellectuals of the period, especially Nâzım Hikmet and Kerim Sadi.
He returned to Iskenderun in 1937 because of his poverty. After working as a primary school teacher in Haymaseki village for nine months, he became the deputy chief of the Translation Office in İskenderun the same year. In 1938, he worked as a primary school teacher in Batı Ayrancı Village, as a secretary at the Turkish Aeronautical Association and as a clerk in the municipality. He was arrested in April 1939 for the overthrow of the Hatay government and taken to Antakya; He was put on trial for a death sentence; He was acquitted two months later. In 1940, he was accepted as a scholarship student to the School of Foreign Languages at Istanbul University. He studied in this institution for two years. Beginning in 1941, he started publishing articles in the journals such as Insan and Yücel.
He was appointed as a French teacher at Elazığ High School in 1942; Just before going there, he met and married the teacher Fevziye Menteşeoğlu. Exempted from military service due to the high myopia in both eyes, Meriç published his first translation book Honoré de Balzac's La Fille aux yeux d'or in 1943.
His lectureship and loss of eyes
Due to his wife not being appointed and the death of his two children in Elazığ, he left his teaching position and went to Istanbul. His son Mahmut Ali was born in 1945 and his daughter Ümit was born the following year. Meriç, who started to work as a French lecturer at Istanbul University in 1946, continued to teach in French until his retirement in 1974; meanwhile, he published articles in the journal Yirminci Asır for a year (1947). Translated Victor Hugo's play, Hermani, in verse (1948); he taught French at Işık High School (1952–1954).
When he completely lost his eyesight as a result of an accident in the spring of 1954, he went to Marseille alone in 1955 and then to Paris after a few failed eye surgeries. When the six-month treatment failed, he returned home. He was depressed for a while because he lost his sight completely, but with the help of his surroundings he started to read and write again.