Behçet Necatigil, whose real name is Mehmet Behçet Gönül, was born on April 16, 1916, in a mansion in Atikalipaşa District, Fatih district of Istanbul. His father was Hacı Mehmet Necati (Gönül) Efendi from Kastamonu, and his mother was Bedriye Hanım, the daughter of teacher Hafız İbrahim Hakkı Efendi from Gevye.
His father, who was also a prominent teacher, served as mufti in Beyoğlu and Sarıyer. Necatigil officially took the surname Necatigil in 1951.
The great fire in Fatih in 1918, just two years after his birth, left deep traces in Necatigil's life. During the same period, his mother contracted severe stomach fever and her illness worsened due to the trauma caused by the fire. Young Necatigil lost his mother when he was only two years old. After living in his grandmother's house in Karagümrük for a while, he settled in Beşiktaş Valideçeşme with his new family as a result of his father's second marriage.
Necatigil, who moved to live with his father in 1923 due to his grandmother's illness, started his education at Cevriusta Primary School.
When his family moved to Kastamonu due to his father's job, Necatigil completed primary school at the Men's Teacher's School there. Later, he started his secondary education at Kastamonu High School, but he had to interrupt his education due to the "adenitis tuberculosis" disease he contracted due to malnutrition and neglect.
Returning to Istanbul with his family after his treatment, Necatigil enrolled in Kabataş Boys' High School in 1931, starting from the second grade.
The sensitivity left by the illness period triggered Necatigil's desire to write. He distributed the weekly magazine called "Küçük Muharrir", which he handwritten in 1927-1928, to his friends and family for fourteen issues. After starting Kabataş High School again, he continued to publish this magazine with new letters and published twelve issues during one summer.
During this period, Necatigil, who also sent poems, jokes and stories to Akşam newspaper's Children's World page, had his first traces in the world of literature in these years. During his high school years, his poem "Night and Mourning" was published in Varlık magazine under the signature of Behçet Necati. In 1936, he graduated from Kabataş High School's literature department with first place.