His father was a major in the army. Reşat Nuri attended primary school in Çanakkale, the Çanakkale Secondary School and the İzmir School of Freres. He graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Literature in 1912. He worked as a teacher and administrator at high schools in Bursa and Istanbul, then as an inspector at the Ministry of National Education (1931). He served as the deputy of Çanakkale between 1933 and 1943 in the Turkish Parliament, the chief inspector at the Ministry of National Education (1947), and a cultural attaché to Paris (1950), when he was also the Turkish representative to UNESCO.
After his retirement, he served at the literary board of the Istanbul Municipal Theatres. He died in London, where he had gone to be treated for his cancer. He is buried at the Karacaahmet Cemetery in İstanbul.
Works
Stories
Recm, Gençlik ve Güzellik (1919)
Roçild Bey (1919)
Eski Ahbab (Without known time)
Tanrı Misafiri (1927)
Sönmüş Yıldızlar (1928)
Leylâ ile Mecnun (1928)
Olağan İşler (1930)
Novels
Çalıkuşu (1922) (The Wren - translated as: "The Autobiography Of A Turkish Girl")
Gizli El (1924)
Damga (1924)
Dudaktan Kalbe (1923) (From Lips To The Heart)
Akşam Güneşi (1926) (Afternoon Sun)
Bir Kadın Düşmanı (1927)
Yeşil Gece (1928) (The Green Afternoon)
Acımak (1928) (To Pity)
Yaprak Dökümü (1939)
Değirmen (1944) (The Mill)
Kızılcık Dalları (1944)
Miskinler Tekkesi (1946)
Harabelerin Çiçeği (1953)
Kavak Yelleri (1961)
Son Sığınak (1961) (The Last Shelter)
Kan Davası (1962)
Ateş Gecesi (1953) (The Night Of Fire)
Theatre
Hançer (1920)
Eski Rüya (1922) (The Old Dream)
Ümidin Güneşi (1924) (Hope's Sun)
Gazeteci Düşmanı, Şemsiye Hırsızı (The Umbrella Thief), İhtiyar Serseri (1925, three works)