Mammad Araz, People’s Poet of Azerbaijan was born on October 14, 1933 in Nursu village of Shahbuz region. His father Infil was exiled to Siberia with charge of “enemy of state” in 1945. After finishing secondary school in this region, he studied at the Pedagogical Institute of Azerbaijan. He entered the department of geography of PIA and simultaneously continued his literary activity, which he had been involved in since childhood. During student years he took part in the trainings of literary circle headed by Ismail Shikhli at the institute. The poem “Keep on, My Lights”, which gained approval here was published in 1952. Having completed his high education in 1954, Mammad Araz started his career as a teacher at the secondary school of his native village. In 1957 he moved to Baku and worked in the position of attorney at the Head Office of Press in charge of Soviet of Ministers of Azerbaijan SSR. In the same year he published the poem “Mother of Three Sons”. He got married on November 8, 1958. His first book of poems “Song of Love” was published in 1959 by “Azerneshr” publication house. In 1959 – 1961 he was the listener of Writers’ Union of Moscow. After finishing the Supreme Literature Courses in 1961, he worked as an editor in the publication house of “Maarif”. M. Araz was the executive secretary in the magazine of “Ulduz” and deputy editor-in-chief in the newspaper of “Literature and Art” and State Publication House of Azerbaijan. M. Araz had been editor-in-chief of “Nature of Azerbaijan” magazine since 1974 till the end of his life. He headed the poetry department of Writers’ Union of Azerbaijan for years. He was awarded “Istiglal” order (1995), a medal and Honorary Decree of Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR. He is the winner of national premium of Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev (1992). He is Honored Worker of Culture of Azerbaijan (1978), Honored Figure of Art of Azerbaijan (1984), Laureate of Republican State Award of Azerbaijan (1988), and People’s Writer of Azerbaijan (1991). A premium of “Mammad Araz” in honor of him has been launched (since 1993). He died on December 1, 2004 at 01.40 p.m. in Baku and was buried in Honorary Cemetery. The president of Azerbaijan Republic issued an order twice with purpose of immortalizing Mammad Araz’s memory. The street near the “Ganjlik” metro station of Baku, in the intersection of Ataturk Ave. and Teymur Aliyev st. has already been named after Mammad Araz. He is the author of ” I Will Find You” (1963), “Araz Flows”(1964), “Memory Songs of My Mother” (1969), “Life Caravan”(1967), “For Years” (1969), “Letter to the Reader” (1978), “Cry of Stone” (1992), “The World Won’t Settle” (1992). Although the book of poems “The World is Yours, the World is Mine” was nominated for State Premium of Azerbaijan SSR in 1982, for obvious reasons it was not presented. M. Araz was awarded a special premium for the poem “My Almighty, the World is not the Same” in the competition organized on the occasion of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in 1991. His works were translated into French, Turkish, Georgian, Russian. M. Araz’s translations from Sergey Mikhalkov, Nekrasov are evaluated as the most successful samples of translated literature in Azerbaijan. His daughter Irada Tunjay is writer-publicist and deputy of National Assembly.
” Today we once again became the witness of cultural contributions of Mammad Araz to Azerbaijani people and to what extent they are vital and important for our people. We once again conceived that the creative activity of Mammad Araz has a significant role in the life of Azerbaijani people “.
Heydar Aliyev,
Nationwide Leader of Azerbaijan People
Ministry of Culture and Tourism Republic of Azerbaijan