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
- Made by
- Kalem (Istanbul bilingual French/Ottoman satirical weekly); cartoon attributed to Cemil Cem
- Region
- Middle East and North Africa
- Country
- Ottoman Empire
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Ottoman Empire
- Leader
- Ahmed Tevfik Pasha
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Themes
- Elections and party politics, Media and information
- Event
- 31 March Incident
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, 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
— 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]
— 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.
