The National museum of Azerbaijan literature named after Nizami Ganjavi ( az, Nizami Gəncəvi adına Milli Azərbaycan ədəbiyyatı muzeyi) is a museum in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

, established in 1939. It is located near the entrance of Icheri Sheher, not far from the Fountains Square. The museum is considered one of the greatest and richest treasuries of Azerbaijani culture.

Main goals

The main goal of the museum is the collection, research and storage of scientific and other materials about

Azerbaijani literature Azerbaijani literature ( az, Azərbaycan ədəbiyyatı) is written in Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, which is the official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the North Azerbaijani variety is spoken. It is also natively spoken ...

and culture and the presentation of these materials in expositions and exhibitions. The museum also carries out scientific research and publishes books and monographs.

History of the museum

The building where the museum is located was built in 1850 as a one-storeyed

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

s. In 1915, the building was given to the “Metropol” hotel, and the second storey was rebuilt. Then, in 1918-1920s, workers of the Cabinet of Ministers of the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian A ...

lived and worked in the building; in 1920-30s the labor union soviet of Azerbaijan was located in the building. On November 1, 1939, according to Order No. 4972 of the Council of People's Commissars of the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

, a memorial museum named after Nizami was created in the building in connection with the 800th anniversary of the Persian poet

Nizami Ganjavi Nizami Ganjavi ( fa, نظامی گنجوی, lit=Niẓāmī of Ganja, translit=Niẓāmī Ganjavī; c. 1141–1209), Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was ''Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī'',Mo'in ...

. The building was overhauled by the project of architects

Sadikh Dadashov Sadiq Alakbar oglu Dadashov ( az, Sadıq Ələkbər oğlu Dadaşov, 1905 – 1946) was an architect and architecture historian of the Soviet Azerbaijan, Honored Art Worker of the Azerbaijan SSR (1940), laureate of the Stalin Prize of the 2nd Degr ...

and

Mikayil Huseynov Mikayil Alesger oglu Huseynov ( az, Mikayıl Ələsgər oğlu Hüseynov; 1905–1992) was a Soviet Azerbaijani architect and historian of architecture. He was People’s Architect of the USSR (1970), Professor (1939); Academician of the Academy of ...

, who placed sculptures in the façade and reconstructed two floors. Later, the memorial museum was changed to the Museum of Azerbaijani Literature. The interior of the museum was designed by Letif Kerimov. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when the 800th anniversary of the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi was celebrated in Leningrad Blockade, the placement work of the museum's exposition was continued. On May 14, 1945, the museum opened its doors to visitors only after the victory in the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), an ...

, in spite of that, the museum was established in 1939. Twice, in 1959 and 1967, the museum was overhauled, expanded and upgraded. In 2001–2003, the museum was changed again. In summer 2005, after the visit of

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

, the president of Azerbaijan, on December 30, 2004, new projects were prepared, on the basis of which the museum was overhauled and renewed. The Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic assigned 13 million manats for that reason. Area of the exposition was expanded 2500 square meters, and the number of halls upgraded to 30 main and 10 auxiliary. If there were demonstrated only 1000 of 120000 exhibits until the reconstruction, after the reconstruction the number of them reached 25000.

The building

The total area of the museum is 2500 square meters, the 1409 meters of which consists of exposition and 173 square meters of fond. There are more than 3000

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s, rare books, illustrations, portraits, sculptures,

miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or proble ...

s, memories of poets and other exhibits in 30 general and 10 auxiliary halls of the museum's exposition. Part of the museum is a book shop. The sculptures of the eminent Azerbaijani poets and writers were placed on the façade of the museum on the following way: Muhammad Fuzuli (sculptor: F. Abdurrahmanov), Molla Panah Vagif (sculptor: S. Klyatskiy),

Mirza Fatali Akhundov Mirza Fatali Akhundov ( az, Mirzə Fətəli Axundov; fa, میرزا فتحعلی آخوندزاده), also known as Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzadeh (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated Azerbaijani author, pla ...

(sculptor: P.Sabsai),

Khurshidbanu Natavan Khurshidbanu Natavan ( az, خورشیدبانو ناتوان / Xurşidbanu Natəvan; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in ei ...

(sculptor: Y. Tripolskaya), Jalil Mammadguluzadeh (sculptor: N.Zakharov), and

Jafar Jabbarly Jafar Gafar oglu Jabbarly, ( az, Cəfər Qafar oğlu Cabbarlı, 20 March 1899, Khizi – 31 December 1934, Baku) was an Azerbaijani playwright, poet, director and screenwriter. Life After his father's death in 1902, Jabbarli's mother moved to Ba ...

(sculptor: S. Klyatskiy). There are 120000 exemplars of the museum exhibits stored in the fond of the museum.

Exhibits

A manuscript of Nizami's Eskandar Nameh in

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...

, which was written in 1413, exemplar of a manuscript of Fuzuli's “Bangu-Bade” (1569), “The Eastern poem about

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

’s decease” of Mirza Fatali Akhundov, personal autographs and other exhibits and expositions of great value are prides of the museum.

References

External links