Vesirov, Nadzhaf-Bek Fatali-Bek Ogly

Born Feb. 5 (17), 1854, in Shusha; died July 9, 1926, in Baku. Azerbaijani playwright and theatrical figure.

Vesirov graduated from the Petrovskoe Agricultural Academy in Moscow (1878). He was one of the founders of the Azerbaijani theater. His first productions, done in collaboration with G. Melikov (Zardabi), were the comedies of M. F. Akhundov (Baku, 1873). Vesirov first appeared in print in the newspaper Ekinchi (1875-77). His dramatic works realistically portrayed the life and mores of Azerbaijan’s peasantry, landlords, and businessmen at the turn of the century. In the comedies The Meat’s Yours, But the Bone’s Mine (1873) and Picture of a Home Education (1875) he criticized the principles of traditional, patriarchal education. The comedy Out of the Rain and Into the Downpour (1895) presents an archetypal willful and stupid merchant. In the first Azerbaijani tragedy Fakhreddin’s Misfortune (1896), Vesirov created the character of a young, liberal nobleman who protested against the feudal system. Vesirov’s plays entered the repertoire of the Azerbaijani theater. After Soviet power was established in Azerbaijan he wrote The Beginning of a New Century (1924), a play which welcomed the victory of the Revolution.