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Elif Şafak

Turkish writer (born 1971)
Person human Q270739

Facts

29 properties
Instance of
human
Sex or gender
female[23]
Date of birth
October 25, 1971
Place of birth
Strasbourg
Country of citizenship
Turkey[8]
Occupation
writer, novelist, journalist
Employer
University of Michigan, University of Arizona[10][11]
Educated at
Middle East Technical University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Middle East Technical University[12][13]
Award received
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Ehrenpreis des österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln, BBC 100 Women, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Prix Fragonard de littérature étrangère, Wikidata item[17][18][19][20][21][22]
Notable work
The Forty Rules of Love, Three Daughters of Eve, Terra Incognita[14][15][16]
Father
Nuri Bilgin[6]
Spouse
Eyüp Can Sağlık[7]
Genre
Postmodernism[25]
Official website
elifsafak.com.tr[28]
Nominated for
Booker Prize[34]
Languages spoken, written or signed
English, Turkish[35][36]
Affiliation string
Penguin UK
Family name
Şafak[26]
Given name
Elif[27]
Has written for
TheGuardian.com
IPA transcription
eˈlif ʃaˈfak[29]
Name in native language
Elif Şafak[37]
Native language
Turkish[9]
On focus list of Wikimedia project
BBC 100 Women Edit-a-thon, gender gap on Dutch Wikipedia
Show all 29 facts +5
P14750
AD4A-0F7F-38FF-2775-7A9F
Participant in
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2014, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2013, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017[30][31][32][33]
Sexual orientation
bisexuality[24]
Social media followers
1.7M (1.7M–1.7M, n=4)
Writing language
Turkish, English
🏷️ Also known as
en Elif Shafak en Elif Bilgin Shafaq en Elif Şafak ar ألف شفق ar إيليف شفق cs Elif Şafaková da Elif Safak de Shafak de Elif Safak de Elif Şafak el Ελίφ Σαφάκ es Elif Safak fa الیف شفق fi Elif Shafak he אליף שאפאק hi एलिफ़ शफ़क hu Elif Shafak hu Şafak id Elif Shafak it Elif Shafak
🔖 Identifiers · 105
ISNI
0000000109801689
VIAF cluster ID
64320935
Library of Congress authority ID
n2003028359
GND ID
129079006
Image (Wikimedia Commons)
ElifShafak creditZeynelAbidin.jpg ↗
AbART person ID
151895
Armeniapedia ID
4276
BBC Things ID
3e55448c-b44d-4310-9e46-d39949c1bb35
BIBSYS ID
8035652
Babelio author ID
22574
Bibliopoche author ID
73272
Bibliothèque nationale de France ID
15559724v
Show all 105 identifiers +93
Biyografya ID
15227
BookBrainz author ID
fd4733ec-b1e6-4b2c-b60e-8fd44cf9b3f7
Brockhaus Enzyklopädie online ID
shafak-elif
CANTIC ID
981058523158706706
CBDB.cz author ID
50031
CONOR.BG ID
30409317
CONOR.SI ID
117720931
CONOR.SR ID
11726183
Canadiana Name Authority ID
ncf11965543
CiNii Research ID
1140000791658266624
Critique d'art ID
20545
Cyprus University of Technology ID
99081
DBC author ID
87097968928923
DDB person (GND) ID
129079006
DUC ID
elif-safak
Databazeknih.cz author ID
67368
Described at URL
edebiyat.k12.org.tr
Deutsche Biographie (GND) ID
129079006
Diamond Catalog ID for persons and organisations
89337
EGAXA ID
Balis932996042
ELNET ID
a11896656
Europeana entity
agent/base/87514
Evene ID
elif-shafak-31215
Eyrolles author ID
80265
FAST ID
1916865
Fantastic Fiction author ID
s/elif-shafak
Festivaletteratura person ID
4193
Flemish Public Libraries ID
000025339
Freebase ID
/m/0fhq4k
Goodreads author ID
14697262
Great Norwegian Encyclopedia ID
Elif_Shafak
IMDb ID
nm9242641
ISFDB author ID
217844
IdRef ID
110340590
Instagram username
shafakelif
JudaicaLink person (GND) ID
129079006
Kallías ID
PE00468120
Kritisches Lexikon zur fremdsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur ID
18000000551
Les Archives du spectacle person ID
234938
Levadia Library ID
59de6bd221c0c8f86d488938
Lex ID
Elif_Shafak
Libraries Australia ID
43669137
Libris-URI
97mqtsnt51tm2s3
LittleSis people ID
170276
Los Angeles Review of Books author ID
elif-shafak
Municipal Library of Trikala ID
78895
Munzinger person ID
00000026354
NACSIS-CAT author ID
DA15915057
NDL Authority ID
001356759
NL CR AUT ID
kv2011658643
NLA Trove people ID
1459334
NLP ID
a0000002529629
NSK (VIAF) ID
000520365
NSK ID
981005704705209366
NUKAT ID
n2008045820
Namuwiki ID
엘리프 샤팍
National Library of Greece ID
202705
National Library of Israel J9U ID
987007306069205171
National Library of Korea ID
KAC200912372
National Library of Latvia ID
000188641
National Library of Lithuania ID
LNB:BySM;=Bx
National Library of Poland MMS ID
9810652245105606
National Library of Portugal ID
1601418
National Library of Russia ID
77118285
National Library of Spain SpMaBN ID (BNE v1.0)
XX4440085
Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID
212391070
Obálky knih ID
kv2011658643
Online PWN Encyclopedia ID
6859937
Open Library ID
OL97320A
Perlentaucher ID
elif-shafak
Philadelphia Museum of Art entity ID
65075
Podchaser creator ID
107Zzr44x7
Portal da Literatura ID
3378
Quora topic ID
Elif-Shafak
RERO ID (legacy)
A025294318
SBN author ID
RAVV514116
SELIBR ID
296875
SHARE Catalogue author ID
475576
SNK ID
149770
SVKKL authority ID
0336850-Shafak-Elif-1971
Sinemalar person ID
41178
Slovak National Library (VIAF) ID
vtls008559699
TED speaker ID
elif_shafak, 752
The Guardian profile ID
elif-shafak
The Literary Encyclopedia person ID
14489
Union Catalog of Armenian Libraries authority ID
18333
University of Barcelona authority ID
981058523158706706
University of Barcelona authority ID (former scheme)
a1284703
Unz Review author ID
ShafakElif
Wellcome Collection concept ID
rzk25bfg
WorldCat Entities ID
E39PBJgRQQhkWxhxhcdccD8KVC
X (Twitter) username
Elif_Safak
Yale LUX ID
person/7655a915-e78d-4b87-a8cd-10f9ff12971a

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections
Works by author 4
The Forty Rules of Love, The Bastard of Istanbul, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, Three Daughters of Eve
Occupation 3
writer, journalist, novelist
Award received 2
BBC 100 Women, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
Employer 2
University of Michigan, University of Arizona
Languages spoken, written or signed 2
English, Turkish
Notable work 2
The Forty Rules of Love, Three Daughters of Eve
Writing language 2
English, Turkish
Country of citizenship 1
Turkey
Educated at 1
Middle East Technical University
Genre 1
Postmodernism
Given name 1
Elif
Instance of 1
human
Native language 1
Turkish
Nominated for 1
Booker Prize
On focus list of Wikimedia project 1
BBC 100 Women Edit-a-thon
Place of birth 1
Strasbourg
Sex or gender 1
female
Sexual orientation 1
bisexuality
Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

Summary

Elif Şafak was born on October 25, 1971[1], in Strasbourg[2]. She has worked as a writer[3], novelist[4], and journalist[5].

Why It Matters

Works attributed to her include The Forty Rules of Love[38], a literary work[39]; The Bastard of Istanbul[40], a literary work[41]; 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World[42], a literary work[43]; and Three Daughters of Eve[44], a literary work[45].

FAQs

Where was Elif Şafak born?

Elif Şafak's place of birth was Strasbourg[2].

Who were Elif Şafak's parents?

Elif Şafak's father was Nuri Bilgin[6].

Who was Elif Şafak married to?

Elif Şafak's spouses include Eyüp Can Sağlık[7].

What did Elif Şafak do for work?

Elif Şafak worked as a writer[3], novelist[4], and journalist[5].

Where did Elif Şafak go to school?

Elif Şafak was educated at Middle East Technical University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences[12] and Middle East Technical University[13].

What awards did Elif Şafak receive?

Honors received include Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres[17], Ehrenpreis des österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln[18], BBC 100 Women[19], and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature[20].

🛰️ Living Edge · news-derived, source-cited

high ≥ 0.90 · emerging ≥ 0.65 · low below — calibrated against hand-rated truth (single-source .44 · two-source .62 · production-typical .70), so a band is a measurement, not a promise. High is rare by design: it needs both a supported assertion and an evidence sentence. A confirmed or contradicted chip is a Wikidata cross-check; no chip means Wikidata has no value for that property — the ordinary case here, and it says nothing either way. A confirm-only note marks a property whose check can never disagree (Wikidata's border and capital data is not exhaustive), so silence there is a limit of the check, not of the claim.

served-tier precision 80.7% [76.2, 84.5] · rated rows currently served n=342 · entailment-gated at 0.85 · measured 2026-09-29 · re-scored every 10 min, demoted at the half-hourly fold

Show 1 low-confidence claim

Published, not hidden — scoring low is not a reason to withhold a sourced claim. A contradicted chip means Wikidata holds a different value; both are shown so you can judge.

Country of citizenship Turkish-British low0.612 independent sources

evidence “In the Sculpture Gallery, The Queen attended a reception with literary figures taking part in the festival, including Lee Child, who wrote the Jack Reacher novel series and Turkish-British novelist Elif Shafak.” rutland-times.co.uk · read source

Related Entities

Turkey

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  2. [23] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  3. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [7] ↑ . books.google.co.uk. books.google.co.uk. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  5. [8] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  6. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [24] ↑ . hurriyet.com.tr. hurriyet.com.tr. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  9. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [3] ↑ . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  11. [4] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  12. [5] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  13. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [11] ↑ . Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  15. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [18] ↑ . orf.at. orf.at. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  18. [19] ↑ . bbc.com. bbc.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  19. [20] ↑ . rsliterature.org. Retrieved . rsliterature.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  20. [21] ↑ . actualitte.com. actualitte.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  21. [22] ↑ . actualitte.com. actualitte.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  22. [1] ↑ . Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  23. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  28. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  29. [29] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  30. [30] ↑ . Davos 2014 Participant List. wikidata.org.
  31. [31] ↑ . Davos 2013 Participant List. wikidata.org.
  32. [32] ↑ . Davos 2016 Participant List. wikidata.org.
  33. [33] ↑ . Davos 2017 Participant List. wikidata.org.
  34. [34] ↑ . thebookerprizes.com. thebookerprizes.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  35. [35] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  36. [36] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  37. [37] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [40] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [42] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [44] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [39] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [41] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [43] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [45] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Elif Şafak. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/elif-safak
MLA “Elif Şafak.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 5 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/elif-safak.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_elif-safak_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Elif Şafak}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/elif-safak}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Elif Şafak — https://4ort.xyz/entity/elif-safak (retrieved 2026-11-05)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/elif-safak · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 19d ago · OKA bot bot · 2026-10-17 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbsetclaim-update-references:1||1|1 */ Place of birth: Strasbourg, source for place of birth from Store norske leksikon ([[Wikidata:Requests for permissions/Bot/OKA bot 2|OKA bot task 2]])"
  2. 26d ago · HedgeHog · 2026-10-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    BookBrainz author ID → fd4733ec-b1e6-4b2c-b60e-8fd44cf9b3f7
    Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'arz', 'az', 'azb', 'bg', 'bn', 'ca', 'ckb', 'commons', 'cs', 'da', 'de',
    Sitelink count → 78
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ BookBrainz author ID: fd4733ec-b1e6-4b2c-b60e-8fd44cf9b3f7, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1791629849434"
  3. 6w ago · AwkwardChester · 2026-09-22 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Image → ElifShafak creditZeynelAbidin.jpg, ElifShafak Ask EbruBilun Wiki.jpg, Elif Şafak at Ed Book Fest 26 01.jpg
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Image: Elif Şafak at Ed Book Fest 26 01.jpg"
  4. 7w ago · ScriptaBelgica · 2026-09-15 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Award received → Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Ehrenpreis des österreichischen Buchhandels für Toleranz in Denken und Handeln, BBC 100 Women +3
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Award received: Wikidata item"
  5. 8w ago · MsMorale · 2026-09-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sinemalar person ID → 41178
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Sinemalar person ID: 41178, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/271268|batch #271268]]"
  6. 12w ago · Yirba · 2026-08-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14750 → AD4A-0F7F-38FF-2775-7A9F
    The Guardian profile ID → elif-shafak
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/46470|batch #46470]]: HAND ID (9)"
  7. 22w ago · Funkhauser · 2026-05-29 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Image unavailable reason → —
    Image needs reharvest → —
    Image last checked license → —
    Image purged license → —
    + 2 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Has written for: TheGuardian.com"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.