Description

The Ottoman magazine Güneş, meaning the Sun, was published for only for one year in 1301 AH (circa 1884) in 12 issues and was influenced by the pioneering Ottoman Science magazine Mecmua-i Fünûn.

After a promising cover, representing the space exploration, the texts are not only concentrated on the science, but also on the literature, poems and populistic subjects. Same as Mecmua-i Fünûn, also Güneş promises no discussions on the politics.
Important scientific articles were written by the Ottoman-Albanian writer Sami bey Frashëri (also Şemseddin Sami Bey, 1850 – 1904).

The editor Beşir Fuad (1852 – 1887) was an extravagant Ottoman intellectual, author and parliamentarian. He is today known as the first Ottoman biographer, critic, essayist and materialist. The magazine Güneş, heavily influenced by the Western world, is Beşir Fuat’s first major project after leaving the army in 1884. During only three years, before tragically committing suicide in 1887, he authored more than 200 articles and 16 books, as well as several translations of famous foreign authors. In 1885, he wrote a book on Victor Hugo, which is considered the first critical biography in the Ottoman language.

Believing in the science until his death Beşir Fuad recorded his own suicide and donated his cadaver to the Medical School – a wish, which was not granted by his family.

References: OCLC 22475150, 1260660811, 643780059, 780200285 & 22475150 (mostly eBooks); Erol A.F. Baykal, The Ottoman Press (1908-1923), 2019, p . 248; Michael ERDMAN, Pre-1928 Ottoman Turkish Literary Periodicals, 2020 (Erdman-HAZINE-Ottoman-Literary-Periodicals-Guide.pdf).