National Library opens exhibition dedicated to national poet

Azerbaijan National Library has opened a large book exhibition called "People's Poet Vagif Samadoglu" timed to the poet's 85th anniversary, Azernews reports.

The exhibition displays the poet's works, musical notes composed to his words, books about his life and work in Azerbaijani and foreign languages, and samples of periodicals.

Vagif Samadoglu, a prominent representative of 20th century Azerbaijani poetry, one of the pioneers of the "literary generation of the 60s" and one of the reformers of Azerbaijani free poetry, was born on June 5, 1939 in Baku, the first Azerbaijan He was born in the family of the folk poet Samad Vurgu.

Vagif Samadoglu was active in the field of poetry, theater and dramaturgy. The first printed work "Seven poems" was published in "Azerbaijan" magazine in 1963. After that, he appeared in periodicals from time to time.

Vagif Samadoglu is the author of a series of works with high artistic qualities for theater and cinema. These works, distinguished by the richness and impact of artistic means, focusing on fateful spiritual problems, brought him fame as a dramatist.

Television shows such as "Ring of Luck", "The General's Last Order", "The Man with Green Glasses" trilogy and many others, which have been staged in Azerbaijani theaters, have gained wide audience support.

Vagif Samadoglu, who approaches the processes taking place in the life of the country and society with a deep sense of citizenship, was also recognized as a public figure.

His literary and socio-political activity was highly appreciated by the state. Vagif Samadoglu is the holder of such titles as Honored Art Worker, People's Poet as well as

He as been also awarded the highest honors of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including "Fame", "Honor" and "Istiqlal".

The exhibition dedicated to the poet, will last one week.

Notably, the Azerbaijan National Library is a treasure trove of knowledge for bookworms.

With over 5 million books, manuscripts, and maps, the Azerbaijan National Library is considered one of the largest libraries in the Caucasus region. Since 1939, the library has borne the name of the eminent playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov.

The library has an extensive collection of literature in Azerbaijani, Russian, English, and other languages. It has collected and preserved national editions, works of Azerbaijani and foreign authors about Azerbaijan published abroad.

The National Leader, Heydar Aliyev, visited the National Library four times in 1995-1997 and donated nearly 300 books from his personal library.

In 2004, the Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library was granted the status of a national library by the decision of Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers.

The building of the library is no less impressive. The library's fa?ade is decorated with the statues of eminent poets and writers like Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati Ganjavi, Uzeyir Hajibayli, Shota Rustaveli, Alexander Pushkin and many others.

The scope of the library's activities is constantly expanding. In 2005, on the basis of legal copies received from publishing houses and printing companies, the library published the yearbook "Books of Azerbaijan" for 1990, 1991, 2000, and 2001.

Over the past years, the National Library has signed a memorandum on bilateral mutual cooperation with about 80 libraries.

In 2021, the Culture Ministry and Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library launched a joint campaign, "Let's go to Garabagh with a book", to restore libraries in the Garabagh region.

A large number of books were donated to the Garabagh Book Fund by a number of international organisations working in the field of culture, Turkic-speaking countries, famous foreign and local authors, publishers, and print houses.