Abdulla Shaig his life, his art and poetry

Abdulla Shaig Talibzade (1881-1959) is one of the mosl eminent and prolific literary figures of contemporary Azerbaijani Literature. He is a poet, a writer, a dramatist, an excellent teacher, and a pursuer of modem education and civilization. The strength of his works is originated from his extensive life experience. His works are characterized by many important political, social and literary events he witnessed in his life time. Shaig pursued a life dedicated to Azerbaijani society. His works were meant to introduce modern values to his fellow citizens and ensure a happy future for his nation. His range of activites varied from education to writing in all literary forms. Shaig started his career as a Turkish teacher in 1902. Among his major accomplishments during 32 years of active working life we can cite: Writing student textbooks which had a stress on national values, preparing new school curriculum, and opening national classes for the first time in Azerbaijan. Shaig also played an important role in starting writing hooks for children in Azerbaijan. He emphasized the role of education and good breeding of the new generation and wrote didactic poems serving his purpose. However he also wrote about universal issues such as liberty, human rights, social justice, women rights which were topical issues at the time and expressed his feelings about his nation during Azerbaijani Democratic Republic. In the second part of his life as an artist, that is in Soviet period years, he wrote about working classes and their changing social status. In World War II he employed an epic style in order to keep Azerbaijani national spirit alive and wrote about great Azerbaijani history and received many awards. Shaig, also a member of the national assembly, remains one of the most popular writers in his people's eyes thanks to his pedagogical act ivil ies and literary works.