Today is the birthday of Chingiz Abdullayev

Today, the world-renowned Azerbaijani writer, author of sensational political detective novels, Chingiz Abdullayev, turns 67 years old.

Chingiz Abdullayev was born in 1959 in Baku. He is a fourth-generation hereditary lawyer. His great-grandfather on his father's side served as an assistant to a sworn attorney in Baku as early as the beginning of the 1890s. He holds three higher education degrees. He speaks several foreign languages: in addition to Azerbaijani and Russian — English, Italian, Turkish, and Farsi. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense, he carried out assignments abroad and headed a special-purpose department. He worked in Belgium, Germany, Poland, Romania, Angola, and Afghanistan. He is a retired major and holds a number of government awards. He holds a Doctor of Law degree.

In 1976, Chingiz Abdullayev graduated from secondary school No. 189 in Baku and enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the Azerbaijan State University named after S.M. Kirov. During his university studies, he was elected editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Komsomolsky Prozhektor" and president of the sports club of the Faculty of Law.

In 1981, he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law of Azerbaijan State University. After graduation, he was assigned to serve as an officer of the Ministry of Defense at the Baku Aggregate Production Association, a closed military enterprise of the USSR Ministry of Aviation Industry, referred to as a "post office box," which was under the jurisdiction of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He worked as a legal counsel at this enterprise.

In 1986, he was expelled from Romania on charges of involvement in the execution of Ceaușescu. This happened because Abdullayev was well aware of all the details of what had occurred, although he had no direct involvement in the matter. On the territory of Namibia, he had to participate in a difficult operation to free Angolan commanders who had been taken prisoner. Only four people returned alive from that operation. Therefore, he knows the price of blood and life firsthand. He does not regret leaving service under the Ministry of Defense, as he believes he honestly gave everything he could to the service. In addition, the combat wounds he had sustained began to take their toll.

As for literature, Chingiz Abdullayev began to feel a pull toward creative work from an early age, but he took up writing much later. His first literary works were a historical novel and several lyrical novellas. The novel "Blue Angels" — Abdullayev's first work in the thriller genre — sat in the KGB for three years. Its publication was banned, citing the top-secret information discovered in it. In 1988, it was published and later went through several reprints.

Legends circulate about Chingiz Abdullayev's literary productivity. Indeed, it is hard to believe, but over the past four years he has been writing a book every month and a half.

Over the years of his literary career, more than 600 of his books have been published, with a combined print run of 27 million copies. His works have been translated and published in 32 languages of the world. Chingiz Abdullayev's books are published in the USA, France, Bulgaria, and Italy. Since 1989, he has been combining his writing with the positions of Secretary of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan and Vice President of the Azerbaijani PEN Club.

For his merits, he has been awarded orders and medals.

He is married and has two children.