The novelist, playwright and screenwriter Anar Rasul Oglu Rzayev was born in Baku on March 14, 1938 in the family of the poet Rasul Rza and the poetess Nigar Rafibeyli. Anar is a grandson of the famous public figure and statesman, the first Minister of Health of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Governor-General of Ganja, Khudadat Bey Rafibeyli.In 1945 he enrolled in the music school named after Bulbul and in 1955 he graduated with excellent scores. From the first to the tenth grade he studied with his future wife Zemfira Safarova.In the same year Anar entered the Philology Faculty of Azerbaijan State University (ASU), and Zemfira entered the Conservatory. But their paths did not diverge because their betrothal followed soon and the wedding took place on January 27, 1962. They have two children. Their eldest son Tural is an Arabist and a diplomat and an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Their daughter Gunel graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Studies in Baku State University.Anar graduated from ASU in 1960 and passed the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters in Moscow in 1964. He also passed the Higher Directing Courses in Moscow.In 1991, he was elected Chairman of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan and re-elected on October 30, 1997. In 1995-2000, he was a member of the Milli Majlis (Parliament).Anar was awarded a number of prizes and awards. On March 14, 1998, on his 60th anniversary Anar received the highest award of Azerbaijan, Order of Independence, awarded to him by the President. He is the Honored Artist of Azerbaijan (1976), State Prize Laureate (1980) and People's Writer of Azerbaijan (1998). For special merits in the development of Azerbaijani literature he was awarded the Heydar Aliyev Prize (2011).Creative activities of Anar began in his adolescence. At the end of the 60s Anar was the chief editor of the Gobustan Anthology of Art, as well as employee of the Literature Museum in Baku. He began to be published in 1960, and his first novel Contact was published in 1976. He was published in the essay genre in the journal Voprosy Literatury (Problems of Literature). The total number of books by Anar issued in different countries exceeds 50.Such works by the writer as White Harbor, Sixth Floor of Five-storey Building, Contact, Dante's Anniversary and Dede Korkut were published in different languages. Anar's plays were staged at all the Azerbaijani theaters.Other equally interesting works by the writer are Room in the Hotel, Dante's Anniversary, I, You, He and the Phone and others.Scenarios written by Anar served to shoot 11 feature films, Earth, Sea, Fire, Sky, Dede Korkut, The Day Passed, Dante's Anniversary, Life of Uzeyir, Last Night of the Year, Light of the Extinguished Fires, Window of Sorrow, Exam, Contact, Tahmina, and Room in the Hotel. In addition, he is the author of script documentaries and television films (The Sea, Gobustan, Sound of Stone Clock, Ancient Ganja - New Ganja, It Is Sattar Bahlulzadeh, It is Javad, etc.). Anar also starred in three films as director: Window of Sorrow, Chords of Long Life, and Dante's Anniversary.According to the story by Anar I, You, He and the Phone, Mosfilm shot the film Every Night at Eleven, directed by Samsonov. The script for this film was written by Edward Radzinsky. Anar considers this movie not very successful.Anar translated Blok, Esenin, Pasternak and Mayakovsky into Azerbaijani. In 1993, on the anniversary of Vladimir Mayakovsky, Anar wrote an essay Slanting Rain.Anar also writes poetry. Composers such as Emin Sabitoglu, Khayyam Mirzazadeh, and Javanshir wrote music for his poetry.

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