Kalem cover: Le Chef de l'Armée Libératrice (Mahmud Şevket Pasha)
The cover of Kalem no. 37 shows a tall, uniformed officer with a full beard, hand on hip and sword at his side, in a line-drawn caricature captioned in French 'The Chief of the Liberating Army' and in Ottoman Turkish 'the honoured commander of the Freedom Army'. The tell is the caption: the label 'liberating' and 'freedom' stands in for any account of what the army did, so the honorific carries the message.
- Date
- May 27, 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
- Huseyin Hilmi Pasha
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Themes
- War and the military, Elections and party politics
- Event
- 31 March Incident
- Techniques
- Glittering generalities
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (scan from SALT Research), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain in the U.S. (published 1909, before 1931); Commons PD-Ottoman
Kalem no. 37 (Istanbul), 27 May 1909, cartoon attributed to Cemil Cem; SALT Research scan via Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
27 Mai 1909 Journal humoristique et satirique paraissant le Jeudi No 37 50 Paras Directeur SELAH Administration: 13, Rue Timoni, Péra, CONSTANTINOPLE KALEM 50 Paras Abonnements 1 an.... 70 Ps. Provinces. 80 » Étranger.. 17 Fr. [handwritten catalogue marks: 315 and other numerals; archive stamp: SALT ARAŞTIRMA] Le Chef de l'Armée Libératrice. حریت اردوسی قوماندانی محترمی . [signature: Djem (flourish)]
27 May 1909 Humorous and satirical newspaper appearing on Thursday No. 37 50 Paras Director SELAH Administration: 13 Timoni Street, Pera, CONSTANTINOPLE KALEM 50 Paras Subscriptions 1 year.... 70 piastres Provinces. 80 » Abroad.. 17 francs [handwritten catalogue marks and archive stamp of SALT Research] The Chief of the Liberating Army. The honoured commander of the Freedom Army. [signature: Djem (flourish)]
Read from a 960 px rendering. The masthead lines and the French caption are clear; the Ottoman Turkish caption is read as 'Hürriyet Ordusu Kumandanı Muhtereme' in Arabic script and confirmed by the Commons title. The upper-margin numerals and the 'Djem' signature are read with low confidence. Translation is literal, machine-made, not checked by a fluent reader.
