Portrait of poet Mohammed ibn Suleiman Fizuli (1492-1556). Portrait of Fuzuli, great Azerbaijani poet

Mohammed ibn Suleiman Fizuli (Fuzuli)
510th Birth Anniversary in 2004

Postage stamp date of issue: 17th January 1994.
Portrait of poet Mohammed ibn Suleiman Fizuli (1492-1556).
Portrait of poet and text "Fizuli is great Azerbaijan poet" in different languages.

 

Fizuli (Fuzuli) is a great Azerbaijani -- not Persian, Turkish, Turkmen or otherwise -- poet, in the same cohort as Nizami Ganjavi (Nezami), Nasimi (Nesimi), and Khagani (Hagani) Shirvani. This VAR webpage attempts to collect all relevant information and facts in English available on the Web for a one-stop presentation, and therefore is under continuous update.


 

DIRECTOR-GENERAL TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN AND SIGN CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT

Paris, 6 November { No. 96-196} - UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor will make an official visit to Azerbaijan from 7 to 9 November to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of the poet and philosopher Muhammad Fizuli and to sign an agreement to strengthen co-operation with this country in education, science, culture and communication.

Mr Mayor will participate in the celebration of the birth of Fizuli, one of the most popular writers of classic Turkic literature, at a ceremony in which several heads of state are expected including Presidents Suleyman Demirel of Turkey and Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia. The Director-General will also meet with several representatives of the Azerbaijani government and sign a memorandum of co-operation with President Heydar Aliev.

In this agreement, UNESCO recognises the efforts made by Azerbaijan in developing national policies in response to changes in the international context and its relations with other countries, including those of the Commonwealth of Independent States and with such regional organizations as TURKSOY and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. In this agreement, UNESCO reconfirms its readiness to assist Azerbaijan in its fields of competence.

Considering education the key to peaceful and sustainable development, UNESCO will continue to provide Azerbaijan intellectual and financial support to help educate child refugees and displaced persons. As this country moves towards a market economy, UNESCO will collaborate in reviewing Azerbaijan's technical and vocational education.

UNESCO recognises the acute economic and social problems related to the rapidly rising levels of the Caspian Sea. As a result, the Organization is supporting the development of regional co-operation for the protection and management of water resources and the environment. This activity will be carried out in close collaboration with other United Nations agencies and potential donors.

In the field of culture, UNESCO will continue to provide assistance to Azerbaijan in the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The Organization will also provide assistance in the preparation of a list of possible World Heritage sites and of the first nominations for the World Heritage List.

In the communication, information and informatics fields, the agreement emphasises capacity building through training and information sharing as well as the development of information networks. Through national and sub-regional projects, UNESCO will assist Azerbaijan, in particular Baku State University, in the development of an independent and pluralistic media environment. Two joint UNESCO/United Nations Development Programme projects amounting to US$800,000 aim at strengthening human resources development and training in computer sciences and enhancing telecommunications services in the Free Economic Zone of Sumgait, 25 kilometres north of Baku.

Source: http://www.unesco.org/bpi/eng/unescopress/96-196e.htm

****
 

 

Azerbaijan’s classical poetry lost outside its borders
By Charles van der Leeuw

"Although not honored to the extent Nizami is to this day, the names of Imadeddin Nassimi (1370-1417) and Mohammed Suleymanoglu Fizuli (1498-1556) remain well known in Azerbaijan and beyond."

"As for Fizuli, he lived at the time the region was the scene of never-ending wars between Persia and the Ottomans, and never set foot in Iran. His poem Leyla and Majnun, on the same theme as Nizami's, is the first of its kind written in the Azeri language (Nizami wrote in Persian), whereas his Book of Plaints is the first major prose work in Azeri. Fizuli's Leyla and Majnun was to be taken as the basis for the libretto of Haddjibekov's opera of the same name in later times."

Excerpts. Full article: http://www.internationalspecialreports.com/ciscentralasia/01/azerbaijan/azerbaijansclassical.html

 


 Famous poets from GAMOH: http://www.gamoh.org/en/siyasi_en.html

 


Fuzuli, Mehmed bin Süleyman
From
 Encyclopædia Britannica
 

Fuzuli, Mehmed bin Süleyman
born c. 1495, , Karbala', Iraq
died 1556, Karbala'

Fuzuli also spelled  Fuduli   Turkish poet and the most outstanding figure in the classical school of Turkish literature.

A resident of Baghdad, Fuzuli apparently came from a family of religious officials and was well versed in the thought of his day, but very little is known about his life. Among his early patrons was Shah Esma'il I, founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran and conqueror of Baghdad in 1508. Twenty-six years later, when the Ottoman sultan Süleyman I took Baghdad, Fuzuli attempted to curry favour with his new masters and henceforth wrote in the name of the Ottoman sovereign. It seems that he was never able to move to the Ottoman capital Constantinople (Istanbul), however, but remained in Iraq throughout most of his life. He composed his famous Sikâyetname (“Complaint”), in which he caustically commented on not being given the status of court poet in Constantinople. Fuzuli composed poetry with equal facility and elegance in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Although his Turkish works are written in the Azerbaijani Azeri dialect, he had a thorough knowledge of both Ottoman and Chagatai Turkish literary traditions.

The works for which he is famous include his melodic and sensitive rendition of the great Muslim classic Leylâ ve Mecnun. This celebrated allegorical romance depicts the attraction of the Majnun (the human spirit) for Layla (divine beauty). Fuzuli is the author of two divans (collections of poems), one in Azerbaijani Turkish and one in Persian. These anthologies contain examples of his most lyrical poetry, many concerned with mystical love and others lamenting the ephemeral nature of this world. His poetic expression, characterized by sincerity, passion, and a pervasive strain of melancholy, transcended the highly formalized classical Islamic literary aesthetic. Fuzuli's works influenced many poets up to the 19th century.

Source: "Fuzuli, Mehmed bin Süleyman." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004.  Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 7 Nov. 2004 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9035730.

 
 

 

Cultural life

In the course of its long history, Azerbaijan has given the world a number of outstanding thinkers, poets, and scientists. Among the medieval scientists and philosophers, Abul Hasan Bakhmanyar (11th century), the author of numerous works on mathematics and philosophy, and Abul Hasan Shirvani (11th–12th centuries), the author of Astronomy, may be noted. The poet and philosopher Nezami, called Ganjavi after his place of birth, Ganja, was the author of Khamseh (“The Quintuplet”), composed of five romantic poems, including “The Treasure of Mysteries,” “Khosrow and Shirin,” and “Leyli and Mejnun.”

The people of Azerbaijan have retained their ancient musical tradition. For example, the art of ashugs, who improvise songs to their own accompaniment on a stringed instrument called a kobuz, remains extremely popular. Mugams, vocal and instrumental compositions, are also widely known, the town of Shusha being particularly renowned for this art.

Azerbaijan's cultural institutions, including museums, theatres, and public libraries, are located in Baku. Many of them were established after World War II. The city has museums devoted to the art, history, and literature of Azerbaijan. In Nagorno-Karabakh there is a museum with material on the history and archaeology of the Armenian people of the region.

The opera and ballet are widely attended. Some of Azerbaijan's composers, notably Uzeir Hajjibekov (the operas Ker-Ogly and Leyli and Mejnun and the operetta Arshin Mal 'Alan) and Kara Karayev (the ballets Seven Beauties and The Path of Thunder), have international reputations. The latter's symphonic music is also well known abroad.

Throughout the Soviet period Azerbaijani literature was controlled by a system that saw mortal danger in even a modicum of creative freedom. Azerbaijani writers and other intellectuals were closely supervised and subjected to varying degrees of persecution.

Azerbaijan has no private publishing; several government firms publish scientific books and magazines as well as books and magazines about art and literature in Azerbaijani, Russian, and other languages. In 1992 the Azerbaijani government switched from the Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet.

The magazines Literaturny Azerbaydzhan (in Russian), Azerbaijan Gadïnï (“Azerbaijan Woman,” in Azerbaijani), and Azerbaydzhanskoye neftyanoye khozyaystvo (“Azerbaijan Petroleum Economy,” in Russian) have the highest circulation.

Baku has several radio stations, a television studio, and a film studio.


Evgeny Dmitrievich Silaev
Edward Allworth
G. Melvyn Howe
 
 

Source: "Azerbaijan." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004.  Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
7 Nov. 2004 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=44296.

 

Azerbaijan

also spelled  Azarbaijan , or  Azarbayjan , Persian  Azarbayjan,   geographic region that comprises the extreme northwestern portion of Iran. It is bounded on the north by the Aras River, which separates it from independent Azerbaijan and Armenia; on the east by the Iranian region of Gilan and the Caspian Sea; on the south by the Iranian regions of Zanjan and Kordestan; and on the west by Iraq and Turkey. Azerbaijan is about 40,000 square miles (100,000 square km) in area.

Iranian Azerbaijan was a centre of several ancient civilizations. It formed part of Urartu and later of Media. In the 4th century BC it was conquered by Alexander the Great and was named Atropatene after one of Alexander's generals, Atropates, who established a small kingdom there. The area returned to Persian (Iranian) rule under the Sasanians in the 3rd century AD. The Arabs controlled Azerbaijan from the 7th century until Turkish nomads overran it in the 11th century. Thenceforth the inhabitants of the region were Turkish speakers. The region was overrun by the Mongols in the 13th century, and, under the ruler Hülegü, Azerbaijan became the centre of a Mongol empire extending from Syria on the west to the Oxus River (now Amu Darya) on the east. Tabriz, the region's largest city, was the capital of this empire and became a centre of cultural and commercial life.

Tabriz was subsequently the capital of the Turkman dynasties of the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu (1378–1502). In the early 16th century Azerbaijan was the cradle of the Safavid dynasty, and subsequently the area was fought over by the Ottoman Turks and the Iranians until Nadir Shah expelled the Turks in the 1740s. During the 18th century the Russians gradually encroached on the area, but the Iranians managed to retain control.

In the early 20th century Azerbaijan was the cradle of the revolutionary movement that gave Iran its constitution in 1906. The area was briefly occupied by the Turks in World War I and was held by the Soviet Union during World War II. In 1945 the Soviets set up the short-lived Kurdish Republic in western Azerbaijan and the communist-dominated Sovereign Republic of Azerbaijan in western Azerbaijan, but Iranian forces regained control of the region in 1946–47 once the Soviet armed forces had withdrawn back across their border.

Iranian Azerbaijan is composed of high plateaus with elevations from 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to 1,800 m) and lower-lying depressions averaging from 3,000 to 5,000 feet (900 to 1,500 m) in elevation. The eastern part of the Zagros Mountains run north-south through Azerbaijan, and the overall effect is of a stair-step topography, with fault scarps defining a number of basins and lowland depressions. Large volcanic cones, such as Sabalan (15,787 feet [4,812 m]) and Sahand (12,172 feet [3,710 m]), dot the high plateau, and the region is subject to earthquakes.

Rainfall is relatively heavy over much of the plateau, and perennial streams have cut gorgelike valleys in places. The average annual precipitation varies from 12 to 35 inches (300 to 900 mm). Azerbaijan is thus one of the few regions in Iran that receives enough rainfall to permit farming without the use of irrigation. The major rivers are the Aras in the north, with its tributary, the Qareh Su; the Qezel Owzan in the east, with its tributaries, the Qaranqu and Aidughmish; and the Zarrineh (Jaghatu). The climate is extreme, with hot, dry summers alternating with cold, snowy winters. In western Azerbaijan is Lake Urmia, a shallow, highly saline lake that covers anywhere from 1,750 to 2,300 square miles (4,500 to 6,000 square km), depending on the season.

The population consists mainly of Azeri-speaking Turks who use an Arabic script and are Shi'ite Muslims. There are also some Kurds and Armenians. The Kurds are Sunnites, and the Armenians are Christians. Agriculture is the principal occupation of the people. The most fertile agricultural lands are around Lake Urmia. Crops include barley, wheat, rice, indigo plants, potatoes, sugar beets, walnuts, almonds, fruits, and vegetables. Sheep and goats are also raised. Industries, concentrated mainly in Tabriz, produce tractors, factory machinery, cement, textiles, electrical equipment and tools, animal fodder, turbines, motorcycles, clocks and watches, processed foods, and agricultural implements. Elsewhere in the region are sugar mills, textile mills, and food-processing plants. Coarse carpets and rugs are woven, and metalware is produced on a small scale. Copper, arsenic, kaolin, coal, salt, lead, and building stone are mined. A network of roads links the region's main cities, including Tabriz, Orumiyeh, Ardabil, Mahabad, and Maragheh, with each other, and an oil pipeline runs from Tabriz to Tehran.

 
 

Source: "Azerbaijan." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004.  Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
7 Nov. 2004 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9011538.



Press Release
For Immediate Release

 

Yo-Yo Ma Performs on the Silk Road
for Aga Khan Award

First Performance of Ensemble in one of the oldest cities on the Silk Road

The performance of Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello recalled the composer’s exploration of the sound worlds of the East and his penchant for experimenting with new melodic material. Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s A·k Havasi, translated both as "breeze of love" and as "dance melody of love," was inspired by the sixteenth-century Azerbaijani poet Muhammed Fizuli's poem "Leila and Majnun.”  It transforms the cello into the voices of the lovers, using as her musical language the quasi-improvisatory traditional classical style and repertory of Azerbaijan known as mugham.  Finally, Kayhan Kalhor’s composition, “Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur”, draws inspiration from traditional Iranian modal melodies, which he supports with an ensemble of Western strings. Featured instruments include the kemancheh (spike fiddle), santur (struck zither), and ney (bamboo flute).

For further information, please contact:

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture
1-3 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 2,
Switzerland

Telephone:         (41.22) 909.7200
Fax:                  (41.22) 909.7292
E-mail:              aktc@akdn.ch
Website:            www.akdn.org

http://www.akdn.org/news/musicnews_211101.htm

Back to News Archives

 


Trend News Agency

August 2004

CULTURE

FESTIVAL ON 510TH ANNIVERSARY OF AZERI POET TO BE HELD IN SWITZERLAND

An international festival dedicated to 510th anniversary of Great Azerbaijani poet and philosopher Fuzuli (1494-1556) will be held in Hoteborg, Sweden, on 4-5 September, the World Azerbaijanis Congress (AEC) told Trend.
Attending the event will be 30 representatives from Azerbaijan - MPs, the National Academy of Sciences, scientists-researches of Fizuli's poetry's, media representatives of media.
Organized by the Academy of Culture and Arts the two-day event will take scientific reports on the creative activities of great Fuzuli, as well as reports on the culture and literature of Azerbaijan, performances staged on the works by Fuzuli, Masters of mugam (national music), performances by the dace bands.

 

 

 

Azerbaijani literature

Also in the 16th century, Muhammad Fizuli produced his timeless philosophical and lyrical "Qazals" in both Persian (Persian (?????), also known as Farsi, Parsi, Tajiki or Dari, is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. It has official-language status in the first three countries. There are over 38 million, http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=1000, native speakers. It belongs to the Indo-European language family) and Azerbaijani. Immensely benefiting from the finest literary traditions of his environment, and masterfully building upon the legacy of his predecessors, Fizuli was destined to become the leading literary figure of his society. His major works include "The Divan of Ghazals", "The Qasidas", and the poem "Leyli ve Mejnun."

In the span of the 17th century, Fizuli’s unique genres were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, Shah Abbas Sani, Amani, Zafar, and others.

Muhammad Suleymanoglu Fizuli
Fizuli was from the Azerbaijani (Turkic) tribe of Bayat and was born in Baghdad in 1498. His poem, "Leyli & Mejnun" written in Azerbaijani sixteenth century is especially revered in the contemporary national culture of Azerbaijan.

Source: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Azerbaijani+literature

 


 

 

Arts, Science, and Education Last Updated:  11/25/2003 2:19 PM
Source: http://foia.state.gov/MMS/postrpt/pr_view_all.asp?CntryID=8
 

Azerbaijan has a rich and ancient cultural history. Poetry, the oldest form of written literature in Azerbaijan, predates the 10th century. However, until the 19th century most major works were written in Persian and Arabic. Notable exceptions were two 16th-century writers: the Safavid shah, Ismail I, writing in Turkish under the nom de plume Khatai, and the poet Fizuli who wrote in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Azerbaijan’s greatest writer, the 12th century poet Nizami, wrote in Persian. His works are still popular in Azerbaijan, and his tomb in Gandja is a well?visited site.

Two ancient forms of oral literature, recounted and sometimes sung by ashugs (literally, lovers), survive today. These are the lyrical folk poems first written down as the “Dede Korkut Stories” in the 15th century and another more ancient form of oral literature, the dastans, which are pre?Christian, pre?Islamic epic poems recounting the history and traditions of the times.

Literature and music coalesce in the traditional poems of the ashugs who often accompany themselves on the tar (whence “guitar”) or ud, a form of lute. Such ancient instruments are still produced to preserve and promote the musical heritage of the country. The oldest preserved instrument in Azerbaijan, the gal?dash, is a type of tambourine from the Stone Age. Cave drawings at Gobustan, just south of Baku, date from 5000 B.C.E. and provide early evidence of the significance of music and dance in the lives of tribesmen in Azerbaijan.

Mugam, a vocal?instrument song cycle that combines music, classical poetry, and improvisation, is a popular art form in Azerbaijan. The mugam opera, in which some of Azerbaijan’s most famous narrative poems are set to contemporary folk tunes, was created in Baku in the early 20th century.

Baku has a recently restored Opera and Ballet Theater that offers a wide variety of performances each season; a Philharmonic Hall, where the Azerbaijani National Orchestra performs a wide repertoire of classical European, American and Azerbaijani music; and a Conservatory with 500 students. Baku has had a classical ballet company since 1908. The company performs 19th? and 20th?century Russian ballet, as well as contemporary Azerbaijani ballet set to folk themes.

Dance has always been an important part of Azerbaijani culture. The Gobustan cave paintings show scenes of men performing hunting dances. The early nomadic folk dances and women’s circle dances continue to be performed today, although only in the past 70 years have men and women begun to dance together in newly choreographed folk dances. Dance is not only a popular art form, but also a significant part of the social life of Azerbaijanis.

Puppet shows and medieval religious mystery plays are among the oldest forms of theatrical art in Azerbaijan. Professional theater dates from 1873 when comedic plays of the Azerbaijani dramatist Akhundov were first performed in Baku. Among the most popular theaters in Baku are the Azerbaijani Drama Theater, the Russian Drama Theater, the Marionette Theater, the Comedy Theater and the Youth Theater. These theaters perform a variety of plays in Azeri and Russian.

Azerbaijani feature and documentary films date from 1916. Movie theaters abound in Baku, showing contemporary European and American films. Most movies are dubbed in Russian and Azeri. A new, Western-style movie theater sometimes shows foreign movies in the original language with Russian subtitles.

Baku has several major museums — the History Museum with an extensive collection of Azerbaijani applied arts; the Fine Arts Museum with its collection of Azerbaijani, Russian, and Western European paintings; the State Museum, devoted to historical musical instruments and the Azerbaijani independence movement; and an excellent new Carpet Museum. A new folk craft museum opened in March 1993.

Azerbaijan’s population is highly educated with claims of over 90% literacy. As of 1990, over 56% of the population had completed secondary school and almost 13% had completed post-secondary school or university. In Azerbaijan, there are 4,300 primary and secondary schools, 78 technical colleges, and 44 institutions of higher education, including 16 private universities. Baku State University has 15,000 students. Khazar University has 1,000 students, as does Western University, both private institutions with English?language programs. The Academy of Sciences has 30 research institutes employing 4,200 researchers.

 

 

Recommended Reading Last Updated:  11/25/2003 3:23 PM
 

These titles provide a general indication of the materials published on this country. The Department of State does not endorse unofficial publications.

Alieva, Leila. “The Institutions, Orientation and Conduct of Foreign Policy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan” in The Making of Foreign Policy in Russia and the New States of Eurasia. (ed. by Dawisha, Adeed, and Karen), M. E. Sharpe; Armonk, N.Y., 1995 (pp. 286–308).

Altstadt, Audrey L. The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity Under Russian Rule. Hoover Institution Press: Stanford, 1992.

Atkin, Muriel. Russia and Iran, 1780–1828. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, 1980.

Baddeley, J. F. The Russian Conquest of the Caucasus. New York, 1969. Baedeker: Russia, 1914 (recently reprinted).

Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Grand Chessboard. Basic Books: USA, 1997.

Dumas, Alexandre. Adventures in the Caucasus. New York, 1963.

Elliot, Mark. Azerbaijan with Georgia. Trailblazer Publications: UK, 1999.

Fawcett, Louise. Iran and the Cold War: Azerbaijan Crisis of 1946. Cambridge University Press: 1992. Goltz, Thomas. Azerbaijan Diary. M.E. Sharpe: New York, 1998.

Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game. Kodansha America: USA., 1994.

Ingram, Edward. The Beginning of the Great Game in Asia, 1828–1834. Oxford, 1979.

Lewis, G.L., tr. The Book of Dede Korkut. Penguin: London, 1974.

Said, Kurban. Ali and Nino. Overlook Press: New York, 1999.

Schuster, Elsa, tr. Blood and Oil in the Orient. Simon & Schuster: N.Y., 1937.

Suny, Ronald Grigor. The Baku Commune: Class and Nationality in the Russian Revolution. Princeton, 1972.

Swietochowski, Tadeusz. Russian Azerbaijan, 1905–1920: The Shaping of National Identity in a Muslim Community. Cambridge University Press: New York, 1985.

Swietochowski, Tadeusz. Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. Columbia University Press, New York, 1995.

Tagiyeva, Roya. Azerbaijan Carpets, 1999.

Wright, Richard E. “On the Origins of Caucasian Village Rugs,” Oriental Rug Review. Vol. 10, No. 4 (April/May 1990).

Wright, Richard E. Caucasian Carpets and Covers: The Weaving Culture. Hali Publications, London. 1995.

Yergin, Daniel. The Prize. Buccaneer Books, 1994.