MEHDI DAVUD KAZIMOV

(1954)

Orientalist

Mehdi Kazimov was born on 18 August 1954. In 1971, he entered  Azerbaijan State University, Faculty of Oriental Studies, graduating with honors. In 1976-1977, he worked as a translator in Iran. In 1977, he started working at the Public Sciences Information Center, Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. He then joined the academy`s Institute of Oriental Studies, serving as a junior research fellow, scientific secretary and senior research fellow. He defended a PhD thesis in 1981, and earned a ScD degree in 1990 and professorship in 1994. In 1988, he continued his career at Azerbaijan State University. He currently chairs the Department of Persian Philology, Faculty of Oriental Studies. Mehdi Kazimov is an acclaimed expert in Persian literature, comparative literary studies, Nizami studies and source criticism. He has contributed considerably to the study of problems of Middle Ages literary style, correlation between normativity and creative individuality, genre system of Oriental literature, and fundamental problems of poetry. He specializes in works of Iranian, Azerbaijani, Indian, Afghan poets and thinkers. Mehdi Kazimov is the recipient of “Taraqqi” Medal. He chairs the Department of Source Criticism, Institute of Oriental Studies named after Z.Bunyadov, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. He has authored 11 books and 117 papers. He has supervised five PhD students to completion.