Renowned Turkish children’s book author Muzaffer İzgü dies aged 84

ISTANBUL

Muzaffer İzgü, a leading writer of children’s books and works of humor, died at the age of 84 on Aug. 26 after a battle with cancer.

İzgü was diagnosed with cancer after being taken to the Atatürk Training and Research Hospital due to extreme weight loss. The father of three rejected cancer treatment and returned to his home in Istanbul, where he died on Aug. 26.

While staying at the hospital, İzgü reportedly asked to be remembered as someone who “was born, read, dreamed, wrote, and died.”

İzgü’s son, Ahmet Şahin İzgü, and his daughter-in-law, Muhterem İzgü, have expressed their sorrow after his passing. The former stated that Turkish literature has now lost its “last trio of humor.”

“I extend my deepest condolences to Turkish readers. We have lost our dear father. While losing our father, we have also lost the last trio of humor in Turkish literature: Rıfat Ilgaz, Aziz Nesin and Muzaffer İzgü,” he said.

After funeral prayers at the Alsancak Hocazade Mosque in İzmir, İzgü was laid to rest in the Doğançay Cemetary on Aug. 28.

Born in 1933, İzgü graduated from the Diyarbakir Primary Teacher Training School and worked as a classroom teacher for many years. He became a teacher at a middle school and in 1959 he began his writing career by writing adult-oriented short stories and essays. In the 1970s, he began writing children’s books and in his last years he wrote exclusively for children. In total İzgü has more than 90 books for adults and children to his name.