Notable people · Azerbaijan

Rulers, poets, composers, scientists and heroes: the notable figures of the Turkic world.

Writers and poets

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