Adile Nasit
Pronounced “Adileh Nashit”
It wasn’t just interesting objects and photographs Adile Nasit had surrounding her, also a close-knit network of people who had one thing in common: promoting arts & culture in Turkey.
It was this common goal that kept her going, even in times of desperation.
Her real name was Adela Özcan, named by her mother Amelya who wanted her daughter’s name to reflect her family’s Armenian & Greek heritage. Coming from a long line of respected performers, Adela followed her father’s footsteps in theatre. Her father Mr. Nasit was known as the only person who could make the Ottoman head of state Sultan Abdülhamid laugh - now, that’s an unbeatable reputation.
Mr. Nasit in costume
“My father used to blow smoke from the keyhole of me and my brother’s bedroom so we would not get up to mischief, like a pair of children who’ve just seen a ghost. It was extremely effective.”
Adela’s career started in children’s theatre in 1944, quickly moved onto cinema and ended on TV with one of her most remembered roles at the end of her career as “The Auntie of Bedtime Stories”.
With her infectious laughter and tremendous talent, she built herself a reputation that doesn’t fall short from her father’s. In their doodle celebrating her 86th birthday, Google wrote: Today we celebrate Turkish actress Adile Nasit, who is remembered fondly as “the funny lady.”
One could say Google rules our lives today, just as much as Sultan Abdülhamid II ruled the lives of the people back then in modern-day Turkey…
Google’s doodle on the 17th of June, 2016
Adile’s life off stage, however, wasn’t always as joyous as the characters she portrayed. Despite the best efforts of the influential people around her who raised money for his surgery, she lost her teenage son to heart-disease. Turkish media is quick to conclude that the tragedy of her son’s death determined Adile’s career. Whether or not it’s relevant to make such connection between her personal and professional life, she did land on parts playing the mother character, almost by default as she furthered into her career.
At the age of 46, she won her first ‘best actress’ award and rose above her tragic story. In her last line from her last film she said: “People who love me should always remember me with smiles and joy”, and that’s exactly how she lives in the hearts of many generations, even in ones who were not lucky enough to be alive during her lifetime.
A scene from the 1976 film ‘Iste Hayat’ which brought Nasit her award
I am one of those people, and her big personality was present even in my life. When I saw the beautiful photograph of her in her home (at the top of the page), I got lost in the memories covering the walls of her home.
Just as I was writing about her today I thought: “I wish there was more of a link to connect her story with mine” — like there was with Nükhet Duru’s story.
It was in that moment, when I was going through her photographs again, something caught my eye. Something on her walls was suddenly familiar to me.
There, just above her head was Rumi’s Spoons that I found in a flea market this Summer. I couldn’t believe it at first, but after intently searching the internet with my eyes glued to the screen, I can confirm the etchings and paintings are identical.
It makes me wonder…Given that these were made before the time of the internet, did the original owner buy these at the same time as Adile Nasit? Were they standing next to each other to pick their favourite one? And where did Adile’s third spoon go? I will never know…
Sources:
ucuncuadam.wordpress.com with special thanks to Asiye Hande Nur Basar,
https://www.google.com/doodles#archive,
https://www.mynet.com/adile-nasit-kimdir-adile-nasit-in-sahne-arkasindaki-huzunlu-hayati-110102500543,
https://medium.com/@gizemalukan,
https://filmloverss.com/author/hazanozturan/,
https://t24.com.tr/haber/yegeni-adile-nasiti-anlatti-halam-guzel-raki-icerdi-herkes-bayilir-ona-hicbir-sey-olmazdi,769251
