--- title: Kalem cartoon of Abdulhamid II and his secretary ("Il y a mis du temps, mais il a compris") url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kalem-abdulhamid-severed-head-cartoon-1909/ description: A full-page cartoon from the Istanbul satirical weekly Kalem shows Sultan Abdulhamid II slumped in an armchair beneath a framed picture of a severed head… section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) [![Kalem cartoon of Abdulhamid II and his secretary ("Il y a mis du temps, mais il a compris")](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kalem-abdulhamid-severed-head-cartoon-1909.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/kalem-abdulhamid-severed-head-cartoon-1909.jpg) # Kalem cartoon of Abdulhamid II and his secretary ("Il y a mis du temps, mais il a compris") A full-page cartoon from the Istanbul satirical weekly Kalem shows Sultan Abdulhamid II slumped in an armchair beneath a framed picture of a severed head on a platter, while his secretary looks out of the window. The captions have him wondering whether 'they' will ask for some grand viziers' heads or his own; the wall picture is the loaded label, branding him as a ruler who trades in heads. - **Date:** April 29, 1909 - **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914) - **Made by:** Kalem (Istanbul bilingual French/Ottoman satirical weekly); cartoon attributed to Cemil Cem - **Region:** [Middle East and North Africa](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=middle-east-north-africa) - **Country:** [Ottoman Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=ottoman-empire) - **Medium:** [Cartoon](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=cartoon) - **Issuer type:** [Media](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=media) - **Regime:** [Ottoman Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=ottoman-empire) - **Leader:** [Ahmed Tevfik Pasha](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=ahmed-tevfik-pasha) - **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public) - **Purpose:** [Demonize](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=demonize) - **Themes:** [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics), [Media and information](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=media-information) - **Event:** [31 March Incident](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=31-march-incident) - **Techniques:** [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/) - **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are - **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abdulhamid_Cartoon_1909.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026 - **Rights:** Public domain in the U.S. (published 1909, before 1931); Commons PD-Ottoman Kalem (Istanbul), 1909, cartoon attributed to Cemil Cem; via Wikimedia Commons ## Text on the object Original (Multiple) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` — Va voir, que demande-t-il? Est-ce les têtes de quelques grands vézirs, est-ce la tienne; j'accepte d'avance, on fera droit à leur demande... — .... — Serais-tu muet, par exemple, tu ne dis rien. Demanderaient-ils ma.. Le Secrétaire. — Il y a mis du temps, mais il a compris. [Ottoman Turkish version of the same dialogue, printed in Arabic script at lower right: only partly legible at this resolution, not transcribed] [signature at lower left: illegible flourish] ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` — Go and see what he is asking. Is it the heads of some grand viziers, is it yours? I accept in advance, their request will be granted... — .... — Have you gone mute, then? You say nothing. Would they ask for my.. The Secretary. — It took him a while, but he understood. [Ottoman Turkish version of the same dialogue: not transcribed] ``` French text read from a 500 px thumbnail. The Ottoman Turkish lines at lower right repeat the dialogue but were too small to read reliably. The speaker of the first and third lines is read as the Sultan, addressing his secretary. Translation is literal, machine-made, and not checked by a fluent reader. [← The fleet protects the nation - Prudential Life Insurance protects the home (Puck centerfold, 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/prudential-fleet-protects-nation-1909/) [Bande Mataram (Paris), memorial page to Madan Lal Dhingra, 17 August 1909 →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bande-mataram-paris-dhingra-memorial-1909/) ## Using the same techniques - [Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passional-christi-antichristi-emperor-kisses-pope-1521/) (1521 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling) - [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking) - [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [Sans-Culottes, feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sans-culottes-bread-of-liberty-gillray-1793/) (Jan 12, 1793 · Fear appeal, Name-calling) - [Exit Liberté a la Francois! or Buonaparte closing the Farce of Egalité, at St. Cloud (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/exit-liberte-buonaparte-gillray-1799/) (Nov 21, 1799 · Name-calling) - [Van Moscouw tot Elba moest ik wyken (From Moscow to Elba I had to give way), Napoleon caricature by Wijnand Esser](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/van-moscouw-tot-elba-napoleon-esser-1814/) (1814 · Name-calling)