Yesârîzâde Mustafa İzzet Efendi
d. 1849 · Istanbul
Yesârîzâde Mustafa İzzet was born in Istanbul, probably in the early 1770s, the son of the ta'lik master Mehmed Esad Yesârî, who gave him his diploma in 1787–88. He first wrote in his father's manner, then built a style of his own that was complete by about 1815 and became the model for Ottoman jali ta'lik. He worked fast: poems composed for Mahmud II's archery and shooting records reached him and their templates went to the stonecutter the next day. More than a hundred signed inscriptions by him survive on Istanbul buildings, and others stand in Shumen, Kavala and Alexandria. In 1842 printing in small ta'lik began with type cast from his letters, under his supervision. He held judicial ranks up to Rumeli kazasker (1846) and died in 1849. He was buried beside his father behind the Fatih madrasas; their headstones now stand in the Fatih Mosque cemetery.
Achievements
- Formed his own school of jali ta'lik, complete by about 1815, which later Ottoman ta'lik writers followed.
- More than 100 signed inscriptions by him survive on Istanbul buildings, more than by any other calligrapher (TDV).
- Book printing in small ta'lik began in 1842 with type cast from his letters, under his supervision.
- His earliest known signed work is the 1794–95 inscription for the floating crane of the Imperial Dockyard (Istanbul Naval Museum, no. 168).
- Wrote inscriptions for monuments in the Hejaz, Egypt and the Balkans; those in Shumen, Kavala and Alexandria survive.
- Headed the state press (Takvimhâne) in 1842–43 and became Rumeli kazasker in 1846.
Taught by: Mehmed Esad Yesari
Taught: Melekpaşazâde Ali Haydar Bey, Hasan Şevki Bey, Kazasker Mustafa İzzet Efendi, Kıbrısîzâde İsmâil Hakkı Efendi, Abdülfettah Efendi, Bursalı Ali Rızâ Efendi
His work
1822 · Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
late 18th century · Istanbul University Library
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
1817–1818 · Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC0
1795 · Istanbul Naval Museum (photograph 2014)
Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons (Istanbul Naval Museum Exterior Inscription from Imperial Dockyard regarding Floating Crane in 2014 11 8236.jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi).
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'MUSTAFA İZZET, Yesârîzâde': dates, offices, printing type, inscriptions list, students islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- English Wikipedia: father, death 23 June 1849 en.wikipedia.org
- Turkish Wikipedia: short entry tr.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: Arabic name form, death 1265/1849 ar.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata item wikidata.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).