Latif Karimov

Latif Huseyn oglu Karimov (Azerbaijani: Lətif Kərimov) (17 November 1906, Shusha – 1991, Baku) was an Azerbaijani carpet designer known for his contributions to a variety of artistic fields, as well as for a number of books classifying and describing various designs of Azerbaijani rugs.

Latif Karimov was born in Shusha (then part of Russian Empire, now in Azerbaijan). His father Mashadi Huseyn was a hatter and his mother Telli was a carpet-weaver. In 1910, the family moved to Mashhad, Iran, and settled in the Karabakhi quarter of the city. After graduating from the local madrasah at age 14, Latif Karimov started working at a carpet shop and learning the art of carpet weaving following his mother's footsteps. He travelled extensively throughout Iran excelling in this craft. Alongside, Karimov had a variety of interests ranging from boxing to literature and performing arts. The Soviet Consulate in Tehran invited him to become a member of the Russian cultural club, where he later directed and acted in plays by Uzeyir Hajibeyov and established an Azeri choir.

Beginning in the late 1920s, Karimov participated in social movements demanding on behalf of weavers of Mashhad an eight-hour working day and improvement of working conditions. In 1929 he was sent on an official mission to Afghanistan to promote theatrical arts. However Karimov returned to Iran two months later not being able to endure the harsh living conditions of Afghanistan. On that year he obtained Soviet citizenship, and the government of Iran, suspicious of his social involvement, offered him an option of moving to the Soviet Union, which Karimov accepted.

Latif Karimov settled in his native Shusha and married Shovkat, a young local carpet-weaver. He was appointed import instructor to a carpet factory. In addition, he founded and conducted courses in carpet weaving introducing Iranian techniques that were not known to the Karabakh weavers. For students who were illiterate and could not take notes, he composed goshmas (Azeri poetic genre) to get them to remember weaving procedures. He later set up similar courses in Quba and Baku.

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