Abidin Dino, 1913-1993

Though born in Istanbul, Abidin Dino lived in Switzerland until he was 12 because his family moved to Geneva the year he was born. He returned to Istanbul after World War I. He dropped out of Robert College to devote himself to painting and caricature, and in 1933, together with Nurullah Berk, Cemal Tollu, Zeki Faik İzer, Elif Naci, and Zühtü Müritoğlu, he founded d Group.

Dino was a self-taught artist. He lived in Paris for most of the second half of his life and his circle there always included prominent poets and painters of the period. Dino was close friends with the poet Nazım Hikmet and, at the latter’s request, illustrated many of his books. Dino drew “The People of the National Forces” for the book “Kuvâyi Milliye Destanı” (The Epic of the National Forces) about the War of Independence, written between 1939 and 1941 while Hikmet was in prison in Çankırı and Bursa.