Kirill Popov, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
On March 21, it was 107 years since the Azerbaijani Samed Vurgun was born. In modern Russia this name is not well-known, even though one of Moscow streets, in front of “Baku” Theatre, is named after him. Vurgun’s name deserves to be remembered – his poems combine personal innovations with traditions of Eastern poetry and produce amazing expression.
Time changes accents in art, and a modern reader will unlikely be interested in the works created by Vurgun on the revolutionary movement and the Communist Party by Lenin. But an author who was raised in the 1920s couldn’t avoid these topics. At the same time, prominent Soviet poets were distinct by an ability to devote poems not only to acute events, but also to permanent values. The lines written by Samed Vurgun connect contemporary days with the middle of the previous century, a Russian reader with an Azerbaijani reader, and both of them with true human dignity and strength without which our life is not full.
Samed Vurgun’s real name is Samed Yusif Ogly Vekilov. He was born in the village of Ykhary Salakhly in the Kazakh province (the current Kazakh District of Azerbaijan) in 1906. When he was six, he and his elder brother lost their mother, and 10 years later they become orphans. Nevertheless, parents were able to give their children a start in life. The boys studied in a village school and then entered a seminary in Kazakh. After graduation in 1924 Samed taught literature in village schools of Kazakh, Gyandja, and Quba, i.e. he became a classic representative of village intellectuals. His poems began to be published.
In 1929-1930 Vurgun studied in Moscow State University; he completed his higher education in Azerbaijani Pedagogical Institute in Baku. In the 1930s his style was formed. He tried to work with different themes and forms. In this period he wrote a lot of his poems and major dramas. The author was interested in laborers, their life and hopes. Creating modern works, Vurgun didn’t forget about the rich history of Azerbaijan. A real anthem of the country might be his poem “Azerbaijan” full of patriotism.
In the 1930s Vurgun intensively translated. He translated Pushkin’s “Yugeni Onegin”, Shota Rustaveli’s “The Knight in the Panther's Skin”, Nizami’s “Leili and Mejnun” (which is written in Persian), poems by Taras Shevchenko. Ilya Chavchavadze, and “The Girl and Death” by Maxim Gorky in Azerbaijani.
The Great Patriotic War influenced works by the poet. Along with the best war poets of Soviet Russia there is a name of Vurgun who wrote such poems as “The Nurse,” “Babash Guerilla,” “The Banner-Bearer,” “A Story of the Old Soldier,” “The Brave Hawk,” “A Nameless Hero,” “I Was Told,” “A Meeting with Moscow,” and so on. The last one deserves special attention. A huge amount of poems is devoted to Moscow, but there is none similar to this. Firstly, translator Mikhail Svetlov managed to transfer unique rhythm of Vurgun’s poetry. Secondly, symbols used by the Azerbaijani poet differ from a common tradition. The poem speaks not about military Moscow itself, but about an attitude of a Soviet person to it, a person who was raised far away from it, in a different culture. From this point of view the poem is very interesting for the reading audience.
After the war Samed Vurgun became a social activist. He was elected into the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijani SSR (1945), became a member of the Supreme Council of the USSR (1946-1956). He visited foreign countries a delegate of Soviet diplomatic groups. Even though he wasn’t even 50, his works began to be filled with melancholy of an old man. His life was coming to an end. Samed Vurgun managed to celebrate his 50th birthday and was awarded A People’s Artist of the Azerbaijani SSR. He died on May 27, 1956, in Baku. His name is almost forgotten in most former Soviet republics, but in Azerbaijan he is remembered will love and gratitude.
