Kurban Said

Charles Sabatos (Yeditepe University)

Dates

Born 1905
Died 1942
Activity 1937-1942

Places

Born in Azerbaijan
Active in Azerbaijan

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Story-writer

Resources

Said's Works

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The identity of Kurban Said, the author of two novels published in the 1930s, remained mysterious for decades. The more famous of these two books,

Ali und Nino

[

Ali and Nino

] was published in Vienna in 1937, but fell until obscurity until it was translated into English in 1970, and has since then become a classic account of life in Azerbaijan just before and after the Russian Revolution, translated into nearly 40 languages. The success and controversy of

Ali and Nino

has completely overshadowed the other book credited to Kurban Said,

Das Mädchen vom Goldenen Horn

[

The Girl from the Golden Horn

], first published a year later. After the American journalist Tom Reiss discovered Kurban Said’s likely true identity, a writer from Baku named Lev Nussimbaum (1905-1942), a revival of interest…

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1942 words

Citation: Sabatos, Charles. "Kurban Said". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 January 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14698, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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