Mirza Fatali Akhundov
| Mirza Fatali Akhundzade | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
12 July 1812 Nukha, Shaki Khanate, Qajar dynasty |
| Died | 9 March 1878 (aged 65) Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Occupation | Playwright, philosopher |
Mirza Fatali Akhundzade (Azerbaijani: Mirzə Fətəli Axundov) or Mirza Fath-Ali Akhundzade (Persian: میرزا فتحعلی آخوندزاده), also known as Akhundov (12 July 1812 – 9 March 1878), was a celebrated ethnic Azerbaijani author, playwright, philosopher, and founder of modern literary criticism, "who acquired fame primarily as the writer of European-inspired plays in the Azeri Turkic language". Akhundzade singlehandedly opened a new stage of development of Azerbaijani literature and is also considered one of the founders of modern Iranian literature. He was also the founder of materialism and atheism movement in Azerbaijan and one of forerunners of modern Iranian nationalism.
Akhundzade was born in 1812 in Nukha (present-day Shaki, Azerbaijan) to a wealthy land owning family from Iranian Azerbaijan. His parents, and especially his uncle Haji Alaskar, who was Fatali's first teacher, prepared young Fatali for a career in Shi'a clergy, but the young man was attracted to the literature. In 1832, while in Ganja, Akhundzade came into contact with the poet Mirza Shafi Vazeh, who introduced him to a Western secular thought and discouraged him from pursuing a religious career. Later in 1834 Akhundzade moved to Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia), where he worked as a translator of Oriental languages. Since 1837 he worked as a teacher in Tbilisi uezd Armenian school, then in Nersisyan school. In Tiflis his acquaintance and friendship with the exiled Russian Decembrists Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, Vladimir Odoyevsky, poet Yakov Polonsky, Armenian writers Khachatur Abovian,Gabriel Sundukyan and others played some part in formation of Akhundzade's Europeanized outlook.
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