Language and literature · Azerbaijan

Turkic languages, epics, books, writers and poets — from the Orkhon inscriptions to today.

Writers and poets

PersonNizami GanjaviGreat poet and thinker (c. 1141–1209), author of the Khamsa, a cycle of five long poems.
PersonImadaddin NasimiHurufi poet (c. 1369–1417), one of the first great masters of lyric poetry in Azerbaijani.
PersonMuhammad FuzuliGreat lyric poet (c. 1494–1556), author of Leyli and Majnun in Azerbaijani.
PersonShah Ismail I (Khatai)Founder of the Safavid state (1487–1524) and a poet writing in Azerbaijani under the pen name Khatai.
PersonMolla Panah VagifPoet and vizier of the Karabakh Khanate (1717–1797) who brought Azerbaijani poetry close to the spoken language.
PersonKhurshidbanu NatavanPoet and philanthropist (1832–1897), daughter of the last khan of Karabakh, who built Shusha's first water supply.
PersonMirza Fatali AkhundzadePlaywright and thinker (1812–1878), founder of Azerbaijani drama.
PersonJalil MammadguluzadehWriter and journalist (1866–1932), founder of the famous satirical magazine Molla Nasraddin.
PersonHuseyn JavidRomantic poet and playwright (1882–1941), victim of the 1937 repressions.
PersonSamad VurgunPoet and playwright (1906–1956), Azerbaijan's first People's Poet, author of the poem Azerbaijan and the drama Vagif.
PersonMohammad-Hossein ShahriarThe great poet of South Azerbaijan (1906–1988), author of Greetings to Heydarbaba.