[2] Pertev Naili Boratav was born in 1907 in Darıdere - today known as Zlatograd, in Bulgaria, but then a town in the Sanjak of Gümülcine in the Ottoman Empire.
In the period between 1941 and 1944 he was among the directors of a monthly sociology journal entitled Yurt ve Dünya based in Ankara.
[5] After establishing Turkey's first Department of Folk Literature in 1946, Boratav was one of three professors who in 1947 were accused of promoting socialism and undermining nationalism.
[2] Boratav reported that he acquired his basic knowledge on folklore, literature and sociology from the courses of his high school teacher Hilmi Ziya Ülken.
[2] A student of Koprulu and Georges Dumézil, Boratav was also influenced by the writings of Arnold Van Gennep.