Rafiq Hilmi ('','' 1898–1960) was a Kurdish historian, writer and politician born in

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

. He was founder of the Kurdish party ''Hîwa'' in 1938 and author of many books on the history of Kurdistan and Kurdish language. After attending school in Sulaimania and

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, he continued his studies at the Military Academy and Technical School of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Literary Life

Early in his career he wrote for two Kurdish newspapers: ''Rojî Kurdistan'', the official newspaper of the

Kingdom of Kurdistan The Kingdom of Kurdistan was a short-lived and self-proclaimed Kurdish state declared in the city of Sulaymaniyah following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It lasted from September 1921 until July 1925. Officially, the territory involved ...

, and ''Bangî Kurdistan''. He was recognized as a talented literary critic after the second volume of his ''Kurdish Poetry and Literature'' was published in 1956. In this work for the first time Goran's poetry and characteristics of the modernist literary movement which he represented were studied and analyzed in depth.

Political life and Hîwa-Party

Rafiq Hilmi is well known in Kurdish politics as the founder of a party called ''Hîwa'' (Hope). It was initially a secret organization consisting of Kurdish intellectuals and civil servants. Under the influence of the predominantly Arab faculty in

, a student movement called “Darker” (''Darker'' is the Kurdish term for charcoal makers, but was about the Italian term of the “

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of Secret society, secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Urugua ...

”),https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/17192?locale-attribute=en, pp. 169 - 170 which later became the ''Hîwa'', was founded and led by Rafiq Hilmi in 1937, which openly acknowledged its great paragons, the

Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

under

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

and the

German National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

under

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

.https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/17192?locale-attribute=en, pp. 169 - 170https://youtu.be/nZZGQSoidB4, Information at 51:00 These professors had presented to their students the national unifications that occurred under the rules of the Prince of Bismarck and

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (; 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as the Count of Cavour ( ; ) or simply Cavour, was an Italian politician, statesman, businessman, economist, and no ...

. Many Kurds saw this as a remarkable example of Kurdish unity.https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/17192?locale-attribute=en, pp. 169 - 170 While the political program of Hîwa was a mainly nationalist one and focused on securing

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

for

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

, many members were also leftist-minded. Later, as the opinions and political views within the party became more polarized, the ''Hîwa'' Party eventually fragmented. It was divided into two factions: a radical pro-German wing and a more moderate, pro-British wing.https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/handle/18452/17192?locale-attribute=en, pp. 169 - 170 ''Hîwa'' also had established links with activists of ''Komala JK''''The Committee for the Revival of Kurdistan'', D. McDowall, ''A Modern History of the Kurds'', I.B. Tauris, 504 pp., 2004, (see p.237) in

Mahabad Mahabad () is a city in the Central District of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Etymology Mahabad first became the name of the city after World War I, during the ...

and it sent two army officers ''Mustafa Khushnaw'' and ''Mir Haj Ahmad'' to the founding ceremony of Komala JK in September 1942. Hîwa maintained its links with Mahabad movement until the collapse of

Republic of Mahabad The Republic of Mahabad, also referred to as the Republic of Kurdistan (; ), was a short-lived Kurdish self-governing unrecognized state in present-day Iran, from 22 January to 15 December 1946. The Republic of Mahabad, a puppet state of the ...

in late 1946.D. McDowall, ''A Modern History of the Kurds'', pp.290,294

Books

#Kurd le Seretay Mêjûwewe ta kû 1920, (Kurds from the dawn of history to 1920), Mosul, 1934. (in Kurdish) #Kurdish Poetry and Literature, Vol. I, 1941.(in Kurdish) #Kurdish Poetry and Literature, Vol. II, 1956.(in Kurdish) #The History of Kurdistan #Kurdistan at the Dawn of the Century, 168 pp., New Hope Publishers, 1998. (in English) #The Science of Arithmetic (in Kurdish) #Yaddasht, Memoirs and the Sheikh Mahmud Revolution, 6 Volumes, Baghdad, 1956-1958. (in Kurdish) #Summary of the Kurdish Case (The Sévre Treaty)

Footnotes

External links

Rafis Hilmi's Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilmi, Rafiq 1898 births 1960 deaths People from Kirkuk Iraqi writers in Kurdish Kurdish literary critics Kurdish nationalists Iraqi Kurdistani politicians 20th-century Iraqi historians