Fictional characters · Fiction
Nasreddin Hoca
The wise fool of Akşehir, riding his donkey backwards through a thousand jokes.
The Turkish name
Nasreddin Hoca
Recording on its way.
A fictional character from Nasreddin Hoca fıkraları · Anonymous Anatolian oral tradition. Our illustration is a playful adaptation for this book.
The story
Nasreddin Hoca is the hero of countless short anecdotes, each ending in a line that is both silly and wise. He pours yoghurt into the lake in case it curdles, asks his donkey to teach him to read, and always has the last word.
The stories are told across the Turkic world and the Balkans. Tradition places him in 13th-century Akşehir, near Konya, where a festival is held in his honour every July.
At a glance
- Home
- Akşehir, Konya
- Era
- 13th century, by tradition
- Famous line
- Ya tutarsa? (And what if it works?)