Famed Azerbaijani poet Fikret Goja marks 80th birthday

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

The famous, talented Azerbaijani poet Fikret Goja, creator of many masterpieces, is celebrating his 80th birthday anniversary. He is one of those rare breed of writers who truly loves and cares about people.

President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the national poet and signed a decree awarding him the "Sharaf" award for his merits in the development of Azerbaijani literature.

The President said that Fikret Goja is someone who made a valuable contribution to the treasury of the verbal art with his own style since the 60s.

People's poet Fikrat Goja was born in Agdash in 1935 to the family of a therapist. He, however, would not choose his father’s path. After graduating from high school he entered the railway technical school in Baku and became a mechanical engineer and even participated in the construction of the Baku Metro. While working on a concrete mixer, the thoughtful young man was actively writing poetry. His talent beckoned him.

Later the poet moved to Moscow and graduated from the Literary Institute in 1964. His first collection of poems under the simple title "Poems" was published in Moscow at the time. His next series was published in Baku, titled “The seagull.”

His most favorite poets include Yesenin, Mayakovski, Byron, and Francois Vignon -- mostly rebellious poets as we can see.

Fikret Goja captured the spirit of the '60s, an era when the ancient chains of slavery were crumbling, creating a number of rebellious works.

The poet visited various countries and dedicated poems to national liberation movements in these countries, to such heroes as Cuban Che Guevara, Amilcar Cabral from Guinea, Jose Rizal in the Phillipines, Vietnam’s Lee Wee Tom, and others. In 1968, Fikret Goja was awarded the Lenin Komsomol prize for a poem dedicated to youth heroism and valor.

“The philosophical thoughts and feelings in your lyric poetry complement each other. That is why the description of the most simple and everyday issues as well as the chanting of the most sublime sense of humanity turns into poetry thanks to the power of your pen,” said national leader Heydar Aliyev earlier in 1995.

Today Fikret Goja’s poetry is published in different languages almost all over the world. He is the author of many beautiful verses and poems that reflect universal values, philosophy, patriotism, and the eternal topic of people and time. His most memorable poems were dedicated to his homeland, the most famous of which are "I am Azerbaijani," "Mother ditch," "My Country, Azerbaijan," "I worship the fire" and many others…