On January 5th, 2021 President Ilham Aliyev declared the city of Shusha the cultural capital of Azerbaijan.
Qarabag.com launches a series of publications about the natives of Shusha – Azeri people of arts.
| № | Name, Surname | Years of life | Mark on history |
| 1. | Abdurrahim bey Asad bey oglu Hagverdiyev (Akhverdov) | 1870-1933 | The best works of Hagverdiyev protest against the oppression of the people, call for the fight against vestiges of the feudalism and ignorance. He created images of heroes fighting for justice, protesting against violence. Hagverdiyev also participated in the development of the national theatre as both organizer and director. Hagverdiyevis was one of the leading authors of satirical magazine «Molla Nasraddin» since 1907. |
| 2. | Suleyman Sani Akhundov | 1875-1939 | Akhundov’s first fictional piece was the comedy “The Greedy One” that was written in 1899.The author ridiculed outdated customs and traditions by drawing a repulsive image of money grubber and miser. In the works created after the Russian Revolution of 1905, the writer addressed broader social and political problems highlighting them from a democratic perspective. After 1920, Akhundov continued to criticize despotism, patriarchal attitudes and backwardness in his writings. |
| 3. | Hashim bey Miriman oglu Vazirov | 1868-1916 | Hashimbey Vazirov was the author of such plays as «School education», «Don’t knock my door – or your door will be knocked», «Marrying – not slaking the thirst». He wrote articles dedicated to enlightenment, science, socio-political issues. He worked as the editor of «Irshad» newspaper at different times, published «Teze hayat» newspaper, edited such newspapers as «Ittifag»,«Seda», «Sadayi-hagg» and «Sadayi-Gafgaz». |
| 4. | Najaf bey Fatali oglu Vazirov | 1854-1926 | Najaf bey Vazirov was the author of the first Azerbaijani tragedy «Fakhraddin’s Grief» and one of the founders of the Azerbaijani theatre. Subsequently, he earned the nickname of the «Muslim Ostrovsky». He wrote about 15 dramatic works where he realistically depicted the lives and morals of Azerbaijani landlords, merchants and bourgeois traders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The realistic dramas of everyday life of Vezirov are notable for their satirical direction. Vazirov raised questions of relevance to his time, but believed that morals could be changed by spreading education. |
| 5. | Jeyhun Abdul- Hussein oglu Hajibeyli | 1891-1962 | After the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic,Hajibeyli is appointed editor of the newspaper «Azerbaijan» that was the official printed organ of the government. In 1919 Jeyhun Hajibeyli went to France as a member of the delegation led by Alimardan Topchubashev to take part in the Versailles Peace Conference. When the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan ceased to exist in 1920,he did not return to Azerbaijan and lived in Paris for the rest of his life where he developed activity in the promotion of the Azerbaijani history and culture.Hajibeyli was the author of many novels and short stories, scientific works and articles devoted to Azerbaijani history, language and literature. Jeyhun Hajibeyli was particularly concerned with the emancipation and equality of women, their role in society and social struggle. |
| 6. | Agil Jafar Khandan oglu Hajiyev | 1947-2019 | Agil Hajiyev was Azerbaijani literary scholar, writer. For a series of works on Turkic folklore, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Folklore Society of Turkey in Ankara (1993). For research in the field of Russian-Caucasian literary relations, he was elected a full member of the International Academy of Social and Economic Sciences in Tbilisi (2003). For his work on the problems of the history of Russian literature, he was elected a corresponding member of the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts in Saint Petersburg (2003). In recognition of the field of development of education and science in Azerbaijan he was awarded the Shohrat Order (Glory) (2009). |
| 7. | Ibrahim Khalil | 1892-1938 | Khalil Ibrahim was Azerbaijani writer, publicist, translator, critic, educator, public figure. Khalil Ibrahim wrote about a variety of socio-political, cultural, educational and social problems. The theme of women’s liberation was combined with literacy issues, reviews of theatrical performances with publicistic articles. In all genres, he proved himself to be a competent specialist. |
| 8. | Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli | 1887-1943 | In 1918 he was appointed to represent The newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in the Ukrainian People’s Republic. At the same time, he was a diplomatic representative in the Crimea and Poland. One of the main tasks of the diplomatic mission was to familiarize the public in those countries with Azerbaijan. For this purpose, the embassy organized evenings and published articles in newspapers and magazines on the history, literature, culture, trade and economy of Azerbaijan. In 1921, his books «A Survey of Azerbaijani Literature» and «The History, Geography and Economy of Azerbaijan» were published, which were full of scientific observations of the writer. In 1930-35 he published his novels «Girls’ Spring», «Students», «In 1917», wrote the comic play «Hazrati Shahriar». |
