BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 1. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have signed an obituary on the death of Azerbaijani People’s Poet Nariman Hasanzada.
The obituary reads:
"The Azerbaijani cultural community has suffered a heavy loss. The prominent representative of modern Azerbaijani literature, Heydar Aliyev Prize laureate, recipient of the President’s personal pension, Honored Artist, People's Poet Nariman Alimammad oglu Hasanzada passed away on August 1, 2026, at the age of 96.
Nariman Hasanzada was born on February 2, 1931, in the village of Poylu, Gazakh district. After completing secondary school, he studied at the Faculty of Language and Literature of the Hasan bey Zardabi Ganja State Pedagogical Institute from 1949 to 1953, and from 1957 to 1961 at the M. Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow.
Hasanzada completed his postgraduate studies at the Baku State University between 1962 and 1965, subsequently defending his dissertation to receive the Candidate of Sciences degree.
Nariman Hasanzada began his career in 1962, holding different positions at the “Azerbaijani Youth” newspaper, the “Azerbaijan” magazine, and the Azerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting Committee. Serving as the editor-in-chief of the “Literature and Art” newspaper from 1978 to 1991, he worked tirelessly to further enhance the newspaper’s influence across the literary and social environment.
From 1991 to 2001, Hasanzada served as the First Deputy Minister of Press and Information of the Republic of Azerbaijan, also taking the role of Acting Minister. From 2001 until his passing, he chaired the Department of Humanities at the National Aviation Academy.
Nariman Hasanzada, a great master of words, breathed new life into our literature from the moment he entered the world of poetry. Remaining faithful to the centuries-old bright traditions of national literature, the poet made an invaluable contribution to the poetic treasury of the Azerbaijani people with his unique style of expression. His works, centered on love for the homeland, feelings of national freedom, attachment to traditional values, and a call for spiritual enlightenment, have always kept him at the vanguard of the literary process.
Distinguished by their melancholy, sincerity, fluency, and naturalness, the poet’s works reflect the thoughts and feelings of our contemporaries. In his poems and verse plays, Nariman Hasanzada revived crucial historical events and great personalities of our past in the light of historical truth, illuminating them through the lens of deep patriotism and national statehood. These works, which celebrate the struggle and heroism of the Azerbaijani people, have been successfully staged in theaters, earning the heartfelt acclaim of audiences. Many songs have been composed to the verses of the poet, who has masterfully benefited from the inexhaustible possibilities of our language, and they remain deeply cherished and widely sung today.
Seamlessly intertwined with his literary career, the artist's multifaceted activity as a scholar, educator, and public figure serves as a bright example of dedicated service to his homeland and people. Nariman Hasanzada was actively involved in the socio-political and cultural life of the republic, serving in various years as Director of the Azerbaijan branch of the USSR Literature Fund, as well as a Deputy of district and city councils and the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan (12th convocation).
Always approaching the processes taking place in the life of the country and society with a deep sense of citizenship, Nariman Hasanzada, devoted all his strength to the development of our culture, the preservation and perpetuation of our national and spiritual values.
Nariman Hasanzada's long-standing and fruitful efforts in advancing Azerbaijani literature and culture have been highly appreciated, as he received the highest state awards of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan - the "Shohrat" (2001), "Sharaf" (2011) and "Istiglal" (2021), and in 2026 he was awarded the "Heydar Aliyev" order.
The bright memory of Nariman Alimammad oglu Hasanzada, an outstanding poet, playwright, and renowned public figure known for his warmth and humility, will forever live on in the hearts of all who knew him.
May Allah rest his soul in peace!
Ilham Aliyev
Mehriban Aliyeva
Ali Asadov
Sahiba Gafarova
Samir Nuriyev
Eldar Azizov
Farah Aliyeva
Adil Karimli
Polad Bulbuloghlu
Isa Habibbeyli
Arif Pashayev
Anar Rzayev
Chingiz Abdullayev
Rashad Majid
Sabir Rustamkhanli
Kamal Abdullayev"
