LYRICIST

It is not that he could not decide on his vocation, he just was interested in everything. Writer, poet, playwright and musician Vaqif Samadoglu dedicated his life to creativity in its entirety.

He about himself 

As one of the talented artists who brought a new atmosphere to the literary environment of our country in the 1960s, Vaqif Samadoglu made a valuable contribution to the treasury of the word of our people for over half a century. His career represents a special stage in new poetry in modern Azerbaijani literature. Every meaningful expression in the works of the master is associated with the rich literary and artistic heritage of the Azerbaijani people, the inexhaustible possibilities of national folklore and the achievements of world literature. In the style typical of him, Samadoglu created a unique panorama and a rich world of philosophical-lyrical discourse full of poetical finds about the life and times, the world and man. In the variety of topics Vaqif Samadoglu addressed, he constantly kept the bright image of the motherland in the spotlight.

The lyrics of Vaqif Samadoglu, which literary critics always highly valued as the poetry of thought combining human and national origins, won the sympathy of the broad masses of readers thanks to the call for a meaningful life and thinking. The master, who was harmoniously and closely associated with the modern age, using the unity of tradition and innovation and the possibilities of the free verse, attained a full-scale description of the psychology of modern man. As a literary successor to Samad Vurgun, he composed a lot of songs, which are still performed with love, with the words of the poet who masterfully benefited from the inexhaustible possibilities of the native language.

Indeed, he was the author of several hundred lyric poems, and Samadoglu himself chose a concise penname "Lyricist". His poetry, like his drama, is surprisingly good-natured. And it can be called lyrics only in the broadest sense, as it's more about love for all the best things that are in us. He was not gloomy, and his poems conveyed and fixed quite a very specific mood. And Samadoglu treated life with the optimism of a real lyricist: "Old age, old age ... I remember when I was very young, I met the legendary but already old singer Xan Susinski on the street. And when I walked up to him, greeted him and asked, 'How are you?', he gave an unexpected answer: Meanness is better than old age."

Nevertheless, his work is varied and affects not only different themes and poetic techniques, but different meanings and emotional states.

Vaqif Samadoglu was the author of a cycle of works for theatre and cinema that had high artistic qualities. These works, which differed with their brightness and impact of artistic means and directed attention to crucial moral issues, brought him fame as a playwright. Vaqif Samadoglu treated processes that took place in the life of the country and society with a deep sense of citizenship, and at the same time, he was known as a public figure. Speaking with the ideology of Azerbaijanism, he made every effort and used all his abilities to develop our culture and preserve our national and spiritual values.

His innovation 

A friend of Samadoglu, poet, writer, translator, chairman of the Centre for Literary Translation and Literary Relations of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan and editor of Dцnya яdяbiyyatы magazine, Salim Babullaoglu, says of him: "Vaqif Samadoglu was one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, an innovator and one of the reformers of the Azerbaijani free verse, which was founded by Rasul Rza."

Being a man of great talent in completely different areas, Samadoglu made a huge contribution first of all to national poetry.

"Along with Fikrat Qoca and Ali Karim, he updated the style of poetry and 'humanized' the language of the free verse, and his poems began to speak in the simple Azerbaijani language," Babullaoglu says. "He and our other great poets of the 1960s restored the metaphysical layer characteristic of pre-Soviet Azerbaijani poetry - the theme of God, loneliness, the transience of humans, death and anguish." He lifted the unofficial ban on these topics in Soviet years and gave them to the new generation as if to say, "Yes, you can and should write about it!"

"In addition, he was also a prominent public figure and postulated the world of freedom of Azerbaijan," his friend says. "When we think of today's free and independent Azerbaijan, the first sparks of this freedom lived, developed and defended themselves in the verses of Vaqif Samadoglu."

His outpost of culture 

In the difficult 1990s, people had no mood for literature, and it was, perhaps, the most difficult time for the creative intelligentsia of Baku. Almost all literary journals closed and books ceased to publish. People just stopped buying them. It was then, at the most severe times of war, wild inflation and the destruction of value systems, that Samadoglu was able to gather like-minded people and create Oguz literary magazine at the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan, which was not only an outpost of culture, but also gave writing intellectuals and people of creative professions small earnings in conditions of poverty. "We, his colleagues, are well aware of his services in the post of editor-in- chief of the magazine," Babullaoglu says.

His nostalgia... 

Speaking about the human qualities of Vaqif Samadoglu, Babullaoglu compares him to Osip Mandelstam: "Both in his poetry and world outlook, nostalgia for world cultures could be felt. Based on this, I can call Vaqif Samadoglu a battery of traditions of world culture that conveyed it to us through Azerbaijani poetry," Babullaoglu says.

Nevertheless, Samadoglu cannot be called conservative in the perception of trends in world prose and poetry, and he always "kept his finger on the pulse". "He was very interesting to talk to, and we talked with him a lot about world culture and literature, including modern," his friend says. "It was an epoch-making man and a friend of all poetic literary generations."

His jazz 

Not everyone is familiar with his talents, and Samadoglu is mainly perceived as a poet. This is largely due to the "shadow of his father". As is known, he was the son of the famous poet Samad Vurgun. He had excellent hearing, graduated from the Bulbul music school, the conservatory, and then the famous Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

The young talented musician Samadoglu had the opportunity to remain permanently in music, and he loved and adored jazz. On the basis of "jazz" he was friends with Vaqif Mustafazada, who was studying in the grade younger than him, and the third person in their company was another virtuoso Rafiq Babayev. In the Soviet Union, jazz was unwelcome in those years and was allowed and prohibited many times. Samadoglu admitted that in Baku, the situation was somewhat different. The customs of the youth were not strictly monitored, and it was possible to get a record though with great difficulty and at great expense. They learnt jazz basically from foreign movies in cinemas, listening to soundtracks. "Sometimes Vaqif Mustafazada and I watched the same movie several times a day and then rushed to his or my house to play the tune as soon as possible," Samadoglu once said.

It was a company of real classic Bakuvians of the time. They listened to jazz, did not recognize dull Soviet textile and bought clothes from "black marketeers" (to whom he was introduced by Mustafazada) at Kubinka and Sovetskaya. It was very strange clothes by today's standards, and their aim was to challenge the gray reality of identical "herringbone" coats and public catering facilities. Vaqif wore "razgovorchik" shoes, smart shirts with patch pockets and mandatory four buttons, and wide ties of bright colours. They were also called "a fire in the jungle".

So this kind of life, as he later recalled, could make him a musician, and as a young man he was going to do this, but other hobbies got in his way. Only in the 1970s, working among TV staff and filmmakers, and only when the government finally recognized the right of jazz to life, did Samadoglu return to music and lead the TV show "Jazz Club" for several years.

His beauty in everything 

"Certainly, Samadoglu made an enormous contribution to Azerbaijani culture, and his departure is a huge loss for all of us," says the writer and art critic Lacin Samadzada. "He was a truly great artist, no matter what he was doing at this moment, he always did it well." Samadoglu was a versatile man and was interested in everything. In the 1970s, being a piano teacher at the conservatory, he also wrote poetry and articles on the study of culture and was head of the department of arts at the main office of "Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia".

In subsequent years, Samadoglu was engaged in writing work, was a playwright at the Azerbaijanfilm studio, then, in the late 1970s - early 80s, he was an editor at the Yazici publishing house and in 1982-1985, head of the literary section at Azerbaijanfilm again.

In the early 1990s, the name of Samadoglu became firmly established in cinema when the brilliant film "Bəxt üzüyü" ("Engagement Ring") was filmed based on his scenario, becoming a standard of true and good (which was rare at that difficult time) satire. "Being fond of his job and a very hard working person, Samadoglu was an excellent administrator. And largely thanks to his responsive management, it was possible to preserve and carry the tradition of national culture through all trials," says Samadzada. "We all mourn, and this loss is irreplaceable for us."

The first collection of his poems appeared in the early 1960s. Then Samadoglu engaged in drama, and movies and TV performances were staged on the basis of his plays and screenplays: "The Man in Green Spectacles", "Wedding Ring", "God, I'm here..." and "Faraway Green Island". The following collections of poems came out in the 1990s. In 2000-2005, Vaqif Samadoglu, a deputy of the Milli Maclis, was a member of the Pardon Commission and the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE.

The writer, poet, editor, bibliographer and musician Vaqif Samadoglu died on 28 January after a long and serious illness. He is buried at the First Alley of Honour near the grave of his father, national poet Samad Vurgun. The bright memory of the outstanding poet, famous public figure and sincere person Vaqif Samadoglu will always live in our hearts. 

Rest in peace!

MILESTONES OF HIS LIFE

Vaqif Samadoglu was born on 5 June 1939 in Baku. After graduating in 1956 from the Bulbul music school, he received his higher education at Azerbaijan State Conservatory in the piano class and then took a special course at Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Starting his career at Azerbaijan State Conservatory as a teacher in 1963, in 1968-1973 Vaqif Samadoglu served as head of the department of arts in the main office of the "Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia", in 1973-1975 - as a writer at the Cafar Cabbarli Azerbaijanfilm studio, in 1978-1982 - as an editor at the Yazici publishing house, in 1982-1985 - as head of the literary section at the Cafar Cabbarli Azerbaijanfilm studio again, and in 1992-1994, as editor-in-chief of independent Oguz Eli newspaper of the Writers' Union Azerbaijan. In 2000-2010, Vaqif Samadoglu was elected deputy of the Milli Maclis of two convocations. At that time, he was a member of the parliamentary delegation of Azerbaijan to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The literary and political activity of Vaqif Samadoglu was highly appreciated by the state. He was awarded the highest awards - the Orders of Sohrat, Saraf and Istiqlal.