Gamar Sheyda (, ) (1881–1933) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Biography

Gamar Sheyda was born in Shusha in 1881 as Gamarnisa to Ata Khan Abrakhanov (1827-1885) and Boyuk Khanum Javanshir (? - c.1910). Ata Khan died when his daughter was young and she was brought up by her older brother, Mohammed, who organised a teacher for his sister at home, and then later encouraged her to go to Shusha School for secondary education. As a teenager, she was presented to the poet

Khurshidbanu Natavan Khurshidbanu Natavan ( az, خورشیدبانو ناتوان / Xurşidbanu Natəvan; 6 August 1832 – 2 October 1897) was an Azerbaijani poet and philanthropist. She is considered one of the best lyrical poets of Azerbaijan. Her poems are in ei ...

at a ''Majlisi-uns'' (poetic assembly), who recognised her talent and gave her they nickname "Sheyda" which she adopted. Natavan's poetry was a strong influence on Sheyda. Sheyda was married to Sadig bey Vazirov. They had six children: two sons - Bahadur bey and Nadir bey; four daughters - Leyla khanum, Sanuber khanum, Hamida khanum and Antiga khanum. Sheyda died in

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 ...

in 1933. It is reported that at her death Sheyda left many manuscripts, however only a few have survived.

Writing

Sheyda was a poet and was particularly well-known for writing ghazals. She was part of a wide poetic network in Azerbaijan and exchanged idea and poems with the writer Ziba Ardabili. Sheyda also wrote plays and the manuscript of the "''Flood of Oppression''" (), written in 1918, is kept at the Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, as well as a copy of her ghazal ''Agan Jany''.

Legacy

Sheyda and other female poets from the ''Majilisi-uns'' group were chosen as inspiration for a project celebrating women from Azerbaijan in 2018. This exhibition was organised as part of the programme celebrating the centenary of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheyda, Gamar 1881 births 1933 deaths Azerbaijani women poets 19th-century Azerbaijani poets 20th-century Azerbaijani poets 19th-century Azerbaijani women writers 20th-century Azerbaijani women writers Writers from Shusha Khoyski family