Ordubady, Mamed Said

(pen name of Mamed Gadzhi-aga ogly). Born Mar. 24, 1872, in Ordubad; died May 1, 1950, in Baku. Soviet Azerbaijani writer. Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan SSR (1938). Member of the CPSU from 1918.

Ordubady was first published in 1903. Certain characteristic themes, such as the appeal for freedom and the criticism of ignorance and fanaticism, are already evident in his earliest collections of poetry, Without a Care (1906) and The Homeland and Freedom (1907). The Revolution of 1905–07 and Ordubady’s work on the journal Molla Nasreddin contributed to the formation of the writer’s revolutionary world view. In the novels Two Boys’ Journey to Europe (1908) and The Unhappy Millionaire (1914), Ordubady expressed Enlightenment views and criticized the despotic regime in feudal Iran.

After Soviet power had been established in Azerbaijan, Ordubady was involved in social, political and journalistic work. The liberation movement in Azerbaijan and the revolutionary struggle of the Baku proletariat provide the substance for his novels Misty Tauris (1933–48), The Struggling City (1938), and Underground Baku (1940). The novel The Sword and the Pen (parts 1–2, 1946–48), set in medieval Azerbaijan, is devoted to the poet Nizami. Ordubady also wrote a number of dramatic works and librettos for operas and operettas. He translated works by A. S. Pushkin, M. Iu. Lermontov, A. Akopian, and other writers into Azerbaijani. Ordubady was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Badge of Honor, and a number of medals.