August 16 marks the birthday of Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh, the beacon of freedom and independence in Azerbaijani poetry, a great thinker, and People’s Poet.
Sea-news.az reports that born in a working-class family in the city of Shaki in 1925, the poet was one of the ideological precursors of the national liberation movement and one of the most prominent figures of modern Azerbaijani literature.
Beginning his artistic career in 1943 with the poem “Ana və şəkil” (Mother and Picture), the poet graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Baku State University (BSU) and worked there as a professor for many years. He was elected a full member (academician) of ANAS (Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences).
With his 1958 poem “Gülüstan” (Gulistan), he openly brought up for the first time the historical tragedy of Azerbaijan being torn into two parts. Due to this work, he was expelled from the university in 1962 with the label of a “nationalist,” only being reinstated to his position two years later.
His poetic plays such as “İkinci səs” (The Second Voice), “Vicdan” (Conscience), “Yağışdan sonra” (After the Rain), “Fəryad” (The Cry), “Özümüzü kəsən qılınc” (The Sword That Cuts Us), and “Dar ağacı” (The Gallows) have been staged with great success at the Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theatre.
Vahabzadeh is the author of over 70 books of poetry, more than 20 poems, 2 monographs, and hundreds of journalistic articles. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Persian, Turkish, Spanish, and other languages.
In 1976, he was awarded the Azerbaijan State Prize for his poems “Leninlə söhbət” (Conversation with Lenin) and “Muğam” (Mugham). He was elected a deputy to the Supreme Soviet and the National Assembly of independent Azerbaijan (in 1995 and 2000).
Having rendered incomparable services to the awakening of the people’s national consciousness and the promotion of the mother tongue and ideas of freedom, People’s Poet Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh passed away in Baku on February 13, 2009.
