126th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant playwright Jafar Jabbarli

Today marks the 126th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Azerbaijani playwright, poet and publisher Jafar Jabbarli.

BAKU.WS deeply respects and honors the bright memory of the brilliant master of words.

J. Jabbarli was born on March 20, 1899, in the village of Khyzy in a poor family. After his father's death in 1902, the family of three-year-old Jafar Jabbarli moved to Baku.

Initially, Jafar studied the Quran, after which he entered Badal-bek's school. In this school, he was taught by Mikail Mushfig's father - Mirza Gadir Ismayilzade. After being expelled from school, Jafar completed his education at a Russian-Tatar school. There he was taught by Suleyman Sani Akhundov and Abdullah Shaig. J. Jabbarli began writing poetry at an early age. According to the latest data, one of his early poems was published in the newspaper "Hagigat i Afkar" in 1911.

Later, with the help of Isa-bek Ashurbeyov, he entered the electromechanical department of the Polytechnic School. He began publishing in 1915. During this time, Jafar Jabbarli published his first poems in the magazines "Babayi-Emir," "Molla Nasreddin," and "Debistan." These poems were published under the pseudonyms "Gayyur-ayyar" and "Shabrang-ayyar." Jafar's early satirical poems and stories were directed against social inequality, women's disenfranchisement, and backwardness.

In 1916, Jafar Jabbarli wrote the historical drama "Nasreddin-shah," in which he exposes feudal despotism in Iran. During the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Jafar Jabbarli worked as a stenographer in the republic's parliament.

In 1920, he entered Baku State University's faculty of medicine; however, due to a lack of interest in medicine, he soon transferred to the faculty of Oriental studies. The writer's subsequent plays "Aydin" (1922) and "Oktay El-ogly" (1923) depict a harsh realistic manner and the reactionary essence of the local bourgeoisie. In 1923-1924, he wrote the poem "Maiden Tower," which is based on a legend about the tragic fate of a woman in the feudal East. In 1927, he created the historical tragedy "Bride of Fire" about the legendary leader of the liberation uprising - Babek.

Jafar Jabbarli is considered the founder of the school of screenwriters in Azerbaijan. Films based on two of his plays, "Sevil" and "Almaz," were made in 1929 and 1936 respectively. Both films are centered on the theme of the struggle for women's rights and the collapse of traditional gender inequality.

In 1931, Jabbarli wrote the play "In 1905," which shows the situation of interethnic clashes between "Tatars" (Azerbaijanis) and Armenians during the first Russian revolution in the Transcaucasus. Jabbarli is the author of the Azerbaijani version of the libretto for the 2nd edition of R.M. Glier's opera "Shahsenem" and many screenplays. He was also a translator. He translated works by W. Shakespeare, F. Schiller, P. Beaumarchais, L.N. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, and many other Russian and European classics into Azerbaijani.

Jafar Jabbarli died at the age of 35 from heart failure.