2024-07-29 15:43:44
A literary evening dedicated to the memory of the prominent Ukrainian translator of Azerbaijani literature, poet Mykola Miroshnychenko and the Azerbaijani Ukrainianist, translator and researcher of Ukrainian literature Abbas Abdulla took place in Baku, the organizers reported to Day.Az. These two outstanding personalities were connected by long-standing friendship and creativity.
The event was initiated by the co-founder of the Ukrainian-Turkic Center Maryna Goncharuk and the head of the Union of Ukrainian Women of Azerbaijan Lidiya Aliyeva-Shestak. The literary evening was held with the support of the People’s Deputy of Ukraine Serhiy Nagornyak. According to him, today it is important to affirm the culture of memory in bilateral relations, which will improve the understanding of the values of our peoples and will contribute to the popularization of Ukrainian culture and literature in Baku.
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Azerbaijan Yuriy Gusev noted that cultural relations between our countries have deep roots, and projects aimed at their development are important for updating the common pages of history.
According to the event moderator, Marina Goncharuk, Mykola Miroshnychenko, like many outstanding poets, was accused of “nationalism” in Soviet times and was not allowed to publish.
“Then, on the advice of friends, he decided to go into translation. He was incredibly capable and talented, so he mastered the Turkic languages mostly on his own (he knew Azerbaijani, Turkish, Old Turkish, Crimean Tatar), but in 1976-1978 he improved his knowledge at the Baku State University. He mastered not only the Azerbaijani language at a high level, but also deeply studied the literature, culture, history of Azerbaijan, subtly understood the peculiarities of the mentality and traditions, the values of the Azerbaijanis. He devoted more than thirty years of his life to translating Azerbaijani literature, and his main work is the two-volume Anthology of Azerbaijani Poetry (2006), which to this day remains the main collection of highly artistic translations of Azerbaijani literature in the Ukrainian language,” said Marina Goncharuk.
Mykola Miroshnychenko’s closest friend Abbas Abdulla translated Ukrainian literature from the original. He lived in Kyiv for two years, improved his knowledge of the Ukrainian language and literature at the Institute of Literature, then translated Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Drach and dozens of other Ukrainian authors. He studied bilateral cultural ties, the activities of the Prosvita society in Baku at the beginning of the 20th century and many other important issues of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani relations.
The Chairperson of the Union of Ukrainian Women of Azerbaijan, Lidiya Aliyeva-Shestak, noted that with such memorial evenings we not only honor cultural figures, but also contribute to the preservation of their creative heritage for future generations and their popularization among young people.
“These individuals have made a huge contribution to the literature of both Azerbaijan and Ukraine. When you get acquainted with their work, first of all, you think about how they, without modern Internet and communication capabilities, left behind such a rich cultural heritage, were extremely productive in their work. Of course, they had encyclopedic knowledge. Their work is incredibly motivating and is a vivid example of cultural diplomacy, contributes to the strengthening of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani friendship and support for each other,” said Lidiya Aliyeva-Shestak.
The event was also attended by the poet Abbas Abdullah’s youngest son and granddaughter, Ayhan Gadjaloglu, and Ayshe Sevgi Gadjaloglu, who is fluent in Ukrainian.
Ayshe Sevgi Gajaloglu emphasized that Ukraine and Azerbaijan have a long history of friendly relations, but for the family of Abbas Abdullah these relations have a completely different meaning and character.
“Our whole family inherited love and respect for Ukraine and the Ukrainian language from my grandfather. My Ukrainian language is also something that I inherited from my grandfather. We did not talk about some ordinary things, my affairs, etc., we talked about politics, literature, the language issue, he talked a lot about Ukraine, many stories were connected with Mykola Miroshnychenko. Grandfather was always working hard. Four countries were his life – Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia. Grandfather had a huge library of very valuable books, and I often looked at the shelf where there was Ukrainian literature and began to study this language. I even have such a manuscript of my grandfather, where he translated the work of Taras Shevchenko “Zapovit” (Testament). I found it by chance inside Taras Shevchenko’s “Kobzar” after the death of my grandfather. After his death, I felt that this was not the loss of my grandfather, but a huge loss for the people, the country and two cultures,” she said.
In summary, moderator Marina Goncharuk noted the importance of creating the Mykola Miroshnychenko Library in Kyiv and the Abbas Abdullah House Museum in Baku.
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