Abstract:

The famous American writer Mark Twain is known for his works and life adventure, especially in the field of literature. The International Mark Twain Society was founded in 1930 by Cyril Clemens and a group of literaries. The purpose and activities of the the society are to ensure the up-to-dateness of Twain's works, to organize literary competitions, to publish biographical works and other works in journals, etc. The Society has also awarded honorary memberships and medals to some names for their contributions to their countries, humanity, science, politics and the international arena. One of the statesmen awarded by the Society was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Atatürk gladly accepted this award, which was given in 1937, because of the emphasis and compliment given to the humanitarian side. The aim of this study is to examine the importance of the Mark Twain medal/award, about which there is no detailed scientific study in historiography in Turkey except for certain short writings, and to trace the process of its presentation. In the study, the reason why Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was selective about accepting the memberships, medals and awards of international organizations, accepted the Mark Twain Society award, the reasons for which the Society gave this award to him and how the news of the award / medal was reflected to the public was included. At the end of this study, new sources and archives about the Mark Twain medal, which were found in fragments in the newspapers of the period when the historical event took place and in some sources today, were accessed and thus try to contributed to the literature.