{{Short description|Azerbaijani writer (1910–1981)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2014}} {{Infobox writer | name = Rasul Rza | image = Rəsul Rza.jpg | caption = Rasul Rza in 1954 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|05|19}} | birth_place = Goychay, Russian Empire | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|04|01|1910|05|06}} | death_place = Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR | occupation = Writer | movement = | children = Anar Rzayev | }}
'''Rasul Rza''' (real name Rasul Ibrahim oghlu Rzayev – {{langx|az|Rəsul İbrahim oğlu Rzayev}}) (1910 – 1981 in Baku), was an Azerbaijani writer, Hero of Socialist Labour (1980), People's Poet of Azerbaijan, Laureate of Soviet State Award and the Chairman of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan. He was the husband of Azerbaijani writer Nigar Rafibeyli and the father of writer Anar Rzayev.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Reminscences of Uzeyir Hajibeyov | url=http://hajibeyov.com/bio/bio_life/huseinzade_adila/huseinzade_adila.html | access-date = July 17, 2010 }}</ref>
==Life and writings== [[File:Rəsul Rza və Nigar Rəfibəylinin Bakıda xatirə lövhəsi.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Plaque on building where Azerbaijani poets Rasul Rza and Nigar Rafibeyli lived in Baku]] Rasul Rza was born Rasul Ibrahim oglu Rzayev on May 19, 1910, in Goychay. He studied at the Transcaucasus Communist University, the Azerbaijan Scientific Research Institute and the Soviet Cinematography Institute. He was Chairman of Writers' Union of Azerbaijan in 1939, minister of Azerbaijani Cinematography (1945–48), chief editor of the Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia (1966–75), and a member of the board of directors of the USSR Union of Writers (from 1964). From the start of his writing career, he adopted a shortened name Rasul Rza.
His first poem was called ''Bu gün'' (''Today''), published in Tbilisi. His serious, multidimensional writings began in the 1930s. During the Great Patriotic War, he published many novels calling for patriotic spirit. He also wrote a poem about Lenin. In the 1960s, he began writing in a more philosophical tone, relating his novels to intellectual themes, analytical thinking, philosophical approach to daily life, and so forth. The lyrical poems, dramas and prose works he wrote hinted at a sustained and subtle criticism of the Soviet regime, for which he was banned from writing for a period of time.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=h4N_dneMybQC&dq=Rasul+Rza&pg=PA95 Aesopian literary dimensions of Azerbaijani literature of the Soviet period. Maliheh S. Tyrrell, page 47]</ref> Additionally, he began composing songs based on his poems.
He died in Baku on April 1, 1981, and was buried in Fakhri Khiyaban. A commemoration ceremony was held in his honor in Ankara in 2010.<ref name="ref1">{{Cite news | title = Azerbaijani people's poet Rasul Rza commemorated in Ankara | url=http://www.today.az/news/entertainment/66034.html | publisher = Today | access-date = July 21, 2010 }}</ref> The writers of Azerbaijan started a Rasul Rza Foundation and present awards to successful writers. It is chaired by Fikrat Goja.<ref name="ref2">{{Cite news | title = Ceremony of presenting International Rasul Rza award held in Azerbaijan Writers' Union | url = http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=102386 | publisher = APA | access-date = July 21, 2010 | archive-date = August 23, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110823200855/http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=102386 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://home.nestor.minsk.by/fsunews/azerbai/2000/az483.html Mark with depiction of Rasul Rza's portrait in honor of 90th anniversary]
{{Azerbaijani Turkic literature}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rza, Rasul}} Category:1910 births Category:1981 deaths Category:People from Goychay District Category:Azerbaijani writers Category:Soviet writers Category:Soviet translators Category:Soviet dramatists and playwrights Category:Azerbaijani translators Category:Translators to Azerbaijani Category:Azerbaijani atheists Category:20th-century Azerbaijani dramatists and playwrights Category:Honored Art Workers of the Azerbaijan SSR