Almas Ildyrym ( az, Almas İldırım), born Ildyrym Almaszade (25 March 1907,

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

– 14 January 1952,

Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . El ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

), was an Azerbaijani poet. After the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

established their power in Azerbaijan in 1920, the fact that Ildyrym had been born into a wealthy merchant family plagued him for the rest of his life. Though he was accepted to the faculty of Oriental Literature at

Azerbaijan State University Baku State University (BSU) ( az, Bakı Dövlət Universiteti (BDU)) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established in 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and ...

, it was not long before they dismissed him because of his family origins. In 1926, Almas co-authored a book of poems, ''Dün bugün'' ("Yesterday is Today") with

Suleyman Rustam Suleyman Rustam ( az, Süleyman Rüstəm; 12 March 1906 – 10 June 1989) was poet of Soviet Azerbaijan, playwright and a public figure. He was the poet of the Azerbaijan SSR (1960), laureate of the Stalin State Prize of the second degree (1 ...

. Soon he was exiled to

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

for the nationalist ideas in his poems. While in exile, he wrote ''Dağlardan xatirələr'' ("Memories from the Mountains"), ''Ləzgi elləri'' ("Lezgi Lands"), ''Krımda axşamlar'' ("Evenings in Crimea"), ''Səlimxan'', and ''Günah kimdədir?'' ("Whose Fault is It?"). Two years later, he returned to Baku and published a collection of poems entitled, ''Dağlar Səslənərkən'' ("When Mountains Make a Sound", 1930). However, the distribution of this book was prohibited and the author was banned from the

Writers' Union of Azerbaijan The Union of Azerbaijani Writers ( az, Azərbaycan Yazıçılar Birliyi) is the largest public organization of Azerbaijani writers, poets and publicists. It has over 1500 members at present. It was founded on June 13, 1934, when Azerbaijan was a ...

.Almas Ildirim, Stranger in a Foreign Country
Azerbaijan International. Spring 2004, #12.1 Again, he was exiled, this time to

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

where he worked as a school director. But because he was constantly repressed, he decided to escape to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

with his family. However, while crossing the border into Iran, he was caught and made to stay in water up to his chest for hours.Almas Ildirim, 1907-1952
Bakunews.info Upon being released, he decided to leave for

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Se ...

. Many of his works describe the longing he had for his native land. He published his poems about his love and longing for his country in the magazines ''Qurtuluş'' ("Salvation") in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, ''Çinar altı'' in

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

, as well as ''Kok Boru'', ''Organ'', ''Ozlayish'' and in the ''Van'' newspaper in Turkey. He published the poems that he had written until 1936 in the book ''Undying Poem''. Other books are ''Azerbaijani songs'' and ''Azerbaijani

bayati {{About, a form of Azerbaijani folk poetry, other uses, Bayat (disambiguation) Bayati ( az, Bayatı) is one of the oldest forms of Azerbaijani folk poetry. A bayati consists of four lines, each of which has seven syllables. The rhyme scheme is ...

s''.

References

External links

Poems by Almas Ildyrym
Azerbaijan International Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Ildyrym, Almas Academic staff of Baku State University 1907 births 1952 deaths Azerbaijani male poets Writers from Baku Soviet emigrants to Turkey 20th-century Azerbaijani poets 20th-century male writers