Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh

Who was Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh?

Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh was an Azerbaijani poet. Born in Nukha, he moved to Baku in 1934 and studied philology at Azerbaijan State University. He became an assistant at the same department and completed his doctorate with his thesis on the famous Azerbaijani poet Samed Vurgun. Until his death, he worked at the same university as a professor of “Contemporary Azerbaijani Literature” and as a deputy at the parliament of Azerbaijan.

He was recognized in Turkey with his article titled Yel Kaya'dan Ne Aparır?, which was published in Varlık and which was an answer to the critics of the poet Fuzûlî. His articles and poems also appeared in the review Türk Edebiyatı for years. Besides poetry, Vahabzade also wrote long verses or stories in verse, plays and made translations. Among his long verses, there is the Yollar-Oğullar which was dedicated to the Algerian Independence Movement, and the Mugam, which was dedicated to the composer Üzeyir Hacıbeyli. He wrote numerous lyrics, most of which were set to music and wrote plays such as İkinci Ses, Yağışdan Sonra, Artığ Adam and Vicdan. He translated the work titled Abidon Felini by Lord Byron into Azerbaijani. His poems have been translated into many languages in the Soviet Union as well as into many Turkic languages and into German, French and Persian. He received the Commodore Medal of the Romania Ministry of Culture in 2002 with his poetry book titled Benim Garibim. He has been regarded as the second greatest contemporary poet of Azerbaijan, after Samed Vurgun. He was awarded with Istiglal Order for his contributions to national independence movement of Azerbaijan by President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev on April 15, 1995. Vahabzadeh died aged 83 on February 13, 2009 in Baku.