Baba Salim of Trabzon Who is One of the Last Representatives of the Minstrel Custom (1887-1956)

One of the most important pieces of Turkish culture is the public minstrels. The minstrels are the topliner people of the society, who live with the folk together, at the same time keep being the voice of the people with their instruments and poems, and mention both positive and negative events in society. Baba Salim of Trabzon is one of the minstrels who are the representatives of a quite old custom. Baba Salim, who was born in the last period of the Ottoman State and sees the declaration of the Republic after years of war and captivity, witnessed a phase of an era. Baba Salim, whose life lasted in financial impossibilities, marked on the cultural life of Trabzon in the first years of the Republic. With this study, it is aimed to fill the gap in the literature, which did not have enough academic studies about Baba Salim, who inspired a generation grew up in Trabzon, and who became a beloved of people with his gentle and bohemia character. This study, which talks over the life of Baba Salim, who left hundreds of literary products such as poems, Turkish poems, epics, ballads, has been created mainly by scanning local newspapers broadcasting in Trabzon and also benefiting from the related works on the subject. It has been observed that this great artist, whose life passed in big suffers, was a public figure but also a journalist, and he left a great legacy to research for the people interested in folk-literature.

Keywords

Father, minstrel, Trabzon, presentation, Community Centre.