Sara Ashurbeyli, sometimes known as Sara Ashurbayli ( az, Sara Balabəy qızı Aşurbəyli), (27 January 1906 – 17 July 2001 in Baku) was an eminent Azerbaijani historian, orientalist and scholar. She was an expert in the early and medieval history of Baku and published many papers and books.

Biography

The daughter of a rich oil magnate, Sara Ashurbeyli had a perfect education and finished Jeanne D’Arc College in Constantinople in 1925 and entered

Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) ( az, Bakı Dövlət Universiteti (BDU)) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established in 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and ...

in 1930 this time in Soviet Azerbaijan. She graduated as an orientalist, she also studied European languages in Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute, thus besides her native Azerbaijani language she knew Arabic,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Turkish, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. She was also an artist and became a member of the Union of Azerbaijan's Artists in 1946. During her lifetime she also taught in various institutions and was a dean for a while. She got her Ph.D. in 1966. A Doctor of History Sciences she was an Azerbaijan State prize laureate. Her famous works include “History of Baku: Mediaeval period” and “Shirvanshah State”. She has postulated that the origin of the name of "Baku" has its origins from

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

, taken from the word “baga” which means “the Sun” or “the God” in several ancient middle-eastern languages. She died in 2001 at age 95.

References

Azerbaijani orientalists Azerbaijani nobility 1906 births 2001 deaths Writers from Baku Azerbaijani women artists Azerbaijani women writers 20th-century Azerbaijani historians 20th-century women writers Women orientalists Ashurbeyli family {{Azerbaijan-historian-stub