Famous writer, playwright, poet and philosopher Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh
Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, writer-playwright, philosopher, public figure, founder of Azerbaijani dramaturgy, was born in 1812 in Sheki. His father Mirza Mammad Tagi and mother Nane khanum moved to Hamna settlement near Tabriz in 1814, from where he and his mother returned to Sheki in 1825. Fatali's maternal uncle, Akhund Haji Alesker, who wanted him to become a clergyman, brought him to Ganja in 1832 and arranged him in a madrasa near the mosque of Shah Abbas. Here M.F.Akhundzade took lessons of logic and jurisprudence from Mollah Huseyn Pishnamaz-zade, and also learnt calligraphy from famous Azerbaijani poet M.Sh.Vazekh. A close friendship soon developed between Mirza Shafi and his pupil.