Jury board for Nizami Ganjavi Award established

Source: /AzerNews/

Board of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center has established an International Jury to select recipients of Nizami Ganjavi International Award, the Center reported.

The Nizami Ganjavi Award, bestowed every year, was founded by Azerbaijan's State Commission on Work with Diaspora jointly with the Ganja city Executive Authority.

The Jury is comprised of individuals of high moral stature with demonstrated commitment to the ideals of the United Nations and who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers. The Jury functions as an independent body and its decisions are final. The first meeting of the Jury will be held in Baku.

The Jury includes Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan (Honorary Chairman), Ismail Serageldin (head of the Library of Alexandria), Vaira Vike-Freiberga (former Latvian President), Walter Fust (GlobalEtik.org head, UNESCO-ITU Broadband Commissioner), Tarja Halonen (former President of Finland), Giuli Alasania (Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the University of Georgia) and Melanie Verveer (Ambassador for global women's issues 2009-2013).

The award consists of a gold medal with the image of great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi and an international certificate.

Former US President Bill Clinton, former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, Burma political figure Aung San Suu Kyi, Latvian former President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were honored with the award.

Nizami Ganjavi International Center with its head office in Azerbaijan's second largest city, Ganja, was established in September 2012 to increase awareness of the great works of Nizami Ganjavi, to help return his masterpieces to the homeland, to serve as a depository for Nizami's works, and to further develop the values embodied in his works through community engagement.

Nizami Ganjavi, the 12th century greatest representative of the Eastern Renaissance, displayed the quintessence of world literature and philosophy in his immortal work Khamsa (Five), via the aesthetic power of his art.