Nzim Hikmet 19021963 Turkeys bestloved poet and a commanding presence in its public life lived through a turbulent erathe end of the Ottoman Empire the rise of Communist Russia and the birth of the Turkish Republic. Born into the Ottoman elite Hikmet embraced Communist ideals and joined the revolutionary ranks at nineteen. Of passionate temperament he lived his life fulltilt deeply romantic in his loves and uncompromising in his politicsfor which he spent more than a third of his life in