59
Türkiye’deki ilk çizgi film
denemesine imzasını atan
da o, memleketi Bursa’dan
Ankara’ya kadar sokaklara
ismi verilen de… 100. yaş
günü olan 2002 yılı adıyla
anılan da o, adına yarışmalar
düzenlenen de… Modern
Türk karikatürün öncüsü,
bugün “usta” olarak anılan
karikatüristlerin yol göstericisi
Cemal Nadir Güler, Bursalıların
hemşeri olmaktan gurur
duyduğu “değerli” bir isim. 45
yıllık hayatına tabelacılıktan
resim öğretmenliğine,
hattatlıktan çıraklığa kadar
birçok iş ve başarı sığdırdı.
Tüm yaşamı boyunca, karikatür
sanatının sevilmesine ve
yaygınlaşmasına, bu mesleğin
hak ettiği değeri bulmasına
büyük katkılarda bulundu.
1902 yılında Bursa’da
doğan Cemal Nadir Güler,
Bulgaristan göçmeni bir
ailenin çocuğuydu. İlkokulu
Bursa’da bitirdikten sonra
ortaöğrenimine Bilecik’te
devam etti. Ailesinin içinde
bulunduğu maddi sıkıntıların
eğitim hayatını etkilemesine
engel olamadı ve okulunu
yarım bırakarak erken yaşta
çalışmaya başladı. O dönemde
girdiği sınavda başarılı olarak
Almanya’da mühendislik
eğitimi almaya hak kazandı
ancak asıl yapmak istediği
bu değildi. İçindeki resim
sevdası biraz da hattat
olan babasının etkisiydi. O
dönemki ismi “Sanayi- Nefise
He is the first person to make a
cartoon strip in Turkey and his
is a name that decorates many
streets from Bursa to Ankara…
He is also the one who was
commemorated in 2002 which is
his 100th birthday and in whose
name contests are organized…
Cemal Nadir Güler, the pioneer of
modern Turkish cartoon art and
the guide for many cartoon artists
who are deemed as “experts” is
a “valuable” name that the locals
of Bursa are proud to be fellow
citizens with. In his 45 year life
he has managed to squeeze
in many jobs and successes
from signboard making to
teaching art, from calligraphy
to apprenticeship. All his life he
strived to make cartoon art be
known and loved more while also
making contributions so that this
occupation would find its worth.
Cemal Nadir Güler was born in
Bursa in 1902; he was the son of
a family of Bulgarian immigrants.
After completing primary school
in Bursa, he continued his
secondary education in Bilecik.
He couldn’t help when his
education got affected by the
financial problems in his family
and started working at an early
age after quitting school. He
entered an exam and won the
rights to receive an engineering
education in Germany but this
was not what he wanted. His love
of painting was the effect of his
father who was a calligrapher. He
entered the exams for the Mimar
Sinan University Academy of Fine
Arts which at the time was known
as “Sanayi- Nefise Mektebi”.
When he failed in these exams
he had to postpone his dreams
of becoming a painter for a while.
He worked as an apprentice,
signpost painter, painting teacher
at elementary schools for a while.
In the meantime he continued
with his painting works and
sending his comics to magazines
in Istanbul. His first comic strip
was published in “Diken” in 1920
which was published by Sedat
Simavi. Afterwards his comic
strips in “Akbaba” attracted
attention which resulted in more
offers to come his way. Being
published in Istanbul magazines
and the offers he received
encouraged him and he set out
with a belief that he can make
a living as a cartoon strip artist.
However, the money he received
was not enough to live in Istanbul
and he had to return to Bursa.
He opened up a shop in the
Bursa Used Book Bazaar and
worked as a signpost maker.
The shop was doing well thanks
to the “Alphabet Revolution”
and he kept on receiving
many signposts that had to be
rewritten. He continued to send
cartoon strips to the magazines
in Istanbul. The strips that he
sent started to be liked more
and more and he attracted the
attention of different publication
companies. In 1928, he received
an offer from Akşam newspaper
which was the Istanbul ticket
for Cemal Nadir Güler who is
also known as “the first painter
with works published regularly
in a newspaper”. Another first
that is mentioned with Cemal
Nadir was the fact that his topics
included emphasizing social
events, perversion of the order
along with sordid and hypocritical
people. The cartoon character
“Amcabey” that he created in
1929 took its place as the “first
local cartoon strip” in the history
of cartoon arts. Following the
creation of Amcabey by Cemal
Nadir as consisting of several
strips instead of only one, new
characters emerged which he
had created to handle different
aspects of social life and order.
Whereas he criticized the
upstarts with the “Newly Rich”