Ramiz Abbasli

Ramiz Abbasli (birth name: Barkhudarov Ramiz Mohammad) was born in the Village of Papravend of the Agdam Rayon of the Republic of Azerbaijan on July 1, 1948. He had gone to the eight-year school of the native village and then to the Boyahmedli Village upper school. He was very fond of the exact sciences – mathematics, physics, and chemistry. He showed a keen interest in music, painted, read the fiction: Azerbaijani tales, dastans; particularly he liked the epos “Koroghlu”. He had read the works of M. Twain, J. Verne, V. Hugo, I. Turgenev, L. Boussenard, etc. He obtained a higher education in the Baku State University; went to the Department of Chemistry. In the student days he began to read more, wrote verses, stories. After graduating, he had worked as an engineer in the oil refinery for a long time.[2]

Ramiz Abbasli writes his stories, narratives and novels in Azerbaijani. While the articles he writes in both Azerbaijani and Russian. He translates the fiction from English, German and Russian. The story ‘School of Seven Villages’ (1996) made Ramiz Abbasli a celebrity. The connoisseurs of literature highly appreciated this interesting and dramatic tale. In a short time, it has become a go-to book for many readers. Later, it had been published the books ‘Mirage’ (2000), ‘Dark Nights’ (2008).

The last book – ‘The Name of the Thief’ (2015) – has become a whole new stage in the creative activity of Ramiz Abbasli. The hero of this novel is not a man, but a historical truth. Not everyone likes the truth. Therefore, they trampled it in the mud; even they want to destroy it. In the novel ‘The Name of the Thief’ a severely wounded historical truth, bloodied, but still alive, leaning on the writer's hand, rises and speaks for itself; it is an accusatory speech in the historical court.[3]

“The book ‘The name of the thief’ of the writer Ramiz Abbasli presents to the readers in an artistic way the anatomy of turning of Armenians into the thief of the historical names who have seized our ancient territories in the Caucasus, our material and spiritual wealth by the thousands of deception, fraud and betrayal with the help of their powerful protector"[4]

“In the book ‘The name of the thief’ Ramiz Abbasli introduce the sworn enemy who had repeatedly hit his nation from behind. It the greatest service to open the history to the people. This book written for the wide audience of readers is rich and may be a valuable textbook for the students of the universities and colleges."[5]

“Even though Armenians who gather together on themselves the most wretched human qualities made good plans, they had not been supported in the past. The writer Ramiz Abbasli states that only after alluring the Russian Tsar Peter the First, Armenians began to realize their fierce ideas. The dishonest plans, barefaced lies had begun to have legs, occupation of the Azerbaijani territories had been brought forward. Under the patronage of the Russian Tsars and then the Bolshevik leadership, Armenians had been moved to the Western Azerbaijan and Karabakh territories from the foreign countries. Armenians who set on their feet managed to establish a state for the first time in history, gained all kinds of support from their foreign backers. The capital of that state became the Irevan city of Azerbaijan. Armenians had caused the unprecedented troubles and calamities to the Azerbaijani people."[6]

A number of quotes can be increased, but there is no need for it in a little article. These three citations include the relocation of Armenians to Azerbaijan, the establishment a state for them in Azerbaijan, the disaster of the Azerbaijani people due to this event and the reflection of this tragedy in the novel "The name of the thief". The Azerbaijani people welcomed this work with love. The authors consider that this beautiful work is understandable, every Azerbaijani should read it, this book can even be used as a textbook in the universities and colleges. – This is a very high appreciation.

Every good art work is first of all national. "The name of the thief" is also national. This work is written for the Azerbaijani people. The people also like it.

None of any other nation has suffered the disaster which Azerbaijani people did. None of other nation's babies have been burned to death by their parents’ eyes. None nation's pregnant brides have not been torn their bellies with the bayonets and pushed the infants muddling them with the soil. This Armenian bestiality was so widespread that it was brought forward for discussion in the Russian State Duma early in the twentieth century. During the First World War, Armenians killed the ten thousands of Azerbaijani children with extreme brutality. Therefore, there is no such work in the literature of any other nation. Such a work could be written by an Azerbaijani who feels in his bones the tragedy of his nation and can experience it.

Translation of fiction takes a special place in the creative life of Ramiz Abbasli. His translations have appeared since the 90s. He translated the stories of Joyce, A. Koppard, K. Mansfield, Galsworthy, Kafka, Hemingway, S. Anderson, J. Steinbeck, H. Bell, I. Bachmann, J. Updike, D. K. Oates, the poems of Yeats, Rothko, Snyder, the plays of Y. Yelinek, G. Pinter, the novels of W. Golding, C. Dickens…[7]

A false method of translating fiction was formed in Azerbaijan in Soviet period. Mostly they did the translations not from the original, but from Russian. R.Abbasli strongly criticized this technique and its supporters in his articles and interviews.[8]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ramiz Abbaslı.

• С.Алиева, Е.Малахова. "Шедевры мировой литературы на азербайджанском языке", Зеркало. – 2010. – 20 февраля. – С. 22.
• Альманах «Российский колокол», Москва – 2018, четвертый выпуск.