Can Yücel (1926, İstanbul - 1999 Datça) was one of the most distinguished Turkish poets of the 20th century. He was noted for his use of plain and sincere (and sometimes rude) language in his poems.
Issued from a deep-rooted family, he was the son of a former Minister of National Education, Hasan Ali Yücel who left his mark on the history of education in Turkey, and a grandchild of an Ottoman sea captain who perished with the frigate Ertuğrul.
Can Yücel studied Latin and Ancient Greek in Ankara and Cambridge Universities. He later worked as translator in several embassies and in the Turkish language section of the BBC in London. After his return to Turkey in 1958, he briefly worked as a tourist guide in Bodrum and Marmaris, and then lived in Istanbul where he worked as a freelance translator and started writing poetry.
In his later years he settled in the remote peninsular town of Datça in southwestern Turkey. He died in İzmir in 1999 and is buried in Daça. His tomb is much visited. He had two daughters, Güzel and Su, and a son, Hasan, from his marriage to Güler Yücel.
