Mirza Ibrahimov

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Mirza Ibrahimov (Azerbaijani: Mirzə İbrahimov) (15 October 1911, Eyvaq, Sarab – 17 December 1993, Baku) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani writer, playwright, state and public figure.

Biography

Mirza Ibrahimov was born in the village of Eyvaq in northwestern Iran, in the present-day Sarab County, 11 km south of Duzduzan. In 1918, he moved with his father to Baku.

He is originally from the Beyish or Bayish tribe in the village of Eyvaq, where they still live.

As the Chairman of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet in Azerbaijan (1954-1958) he pushed hard to make Azerbaijani a second official language, in addition to Russian. He went to Moscow to speak to the Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet, who agreed with him, convinced that the idea made sense. In 1956, the Azerbaijan Communist Party Central Committee amended Azerbaijan's Constitution to include: (1) Azerbaijani is the State language of the Azerbaijan Republic, and (2) National minorities living in Azerbaijan shall be guaranteed the right to develop independently and use their national language in their cultural as well as state organizations.

Between 1970 and 1986 he was the Chairman of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan.

Mirza Ibrahimov died in 1993 in Baku.