Kurdish History Journal
Cemal Süreya (1931-1990), born to a Kurdish family in Erzincan, was one of Turkey's greatest modern poets — a founder of the Second New movement whose sensual, fragmented verse transformed Turkish poetry.
Read article →Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou (1930-1989), Secretary-General of the KDPI, was the most brilliant Kurdish political intellectual of his generation — assassinated by Iranian agents in Vienna while negotiating for Kurdish rights.
Read article →Nusrat Bhutto (1929-2011), born to a Kurdish family in Isfahan, became the wife of Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and mother of Benazir Bhutto — one of the most influential women in Pakistan's history.
Read article →Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf (1924-2009) was a Kurdish Iraqi politician who served as Vice President of Iraq from 1974 to 2003 — the longest-serving Kurdish holder of a senior Iraqi state position.
Read article →Yaşar Kemal (1923-2015) was a Kurdish Turkish novelist whose epic tales of Anatolian peasant life, especially Memed My Hawk, made him Turkey's greatest novelist and a perennial Nobel Prize candidate.
Read article →Ahmad Hardi (1922-2006), Kurdish poet from Erbil, is celebrated for lyric poetry of exceptional beauty that captures love, loss, and the Kurdish landscape with philosophical depth and emotional intensity.
Read article →Hemin Mukriyani (1921-1986), Kurdish poet from Mahabad, is one of the most celebrated Sorani Kurdish poets of the 20th century, whose lyric verse about love, nature, and Kurdish identity remains deeply beloved.
Read article →Hassan Zirak (1921-1973), Kurdish singer from Sulaymaniyah, was the most beloved and humorous Kurdish musician of the 20th century whose songs brought joy to Kurds across the world.
Read article →Ezaddin Husseini (1921-2011) was a Kurdish Sunni Muslim cleric from Mahabad who became a leading voice for Kurdish rights in Iran, supporting the 1979 revolution before breaking with Khomeini over Kurdish autonomy.
Read article →Abdurrahman Sharafkandi (1921-1986), known by his pen name Hazhar, was a Kurdish Iranian poet and linguist who compiled the authoritative Kurdish-Persian dictionary and translated Shakespeare into Kurdish.
Read article →Musa Anter (1920-1992), Kurdish Turkish poet, journalist, and political activist, was assassinated in Diyarbakır in 1992 — becoming a martyr of Kurdish cultural freedom in Turkey.
Read article →Nûredin Zaza (1919-1988) was a Kurdish Syrian politician, writer, and co-founder of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Syria who spent decades in exile advocating for Kurdish rights.
Read article →Dildar (1918-1948), born Yusuf Salih, was a Kurdish poet from Sulaymaniyah who wrote Ey Reqib — the Kurdish national anthem — before dying at just 30 years old, leaving an immortal legacy.
Read article →Ahmed Kuftaro (1915-2004) was a Kurdish Syrian religious leader who served as Grand Mufti of Syria for over 40 years and became one of the Muslim world's most prominent advocates for interfaith dialogue.
Read article →Khalid Bakdash (1912-1995) was a Kurdish Syrian politician who led the Syrian Communist Party for over 60 years and was the first communist ever elected to parliament in the Arab world.
Read article →Qedrîcan (1911-1972), born Kadri Cemilpaşa, was the most beloved Kurdish classical singer of the 20th century whose recordings of traditional Kurdish songs brought Kurdish music to international audiences.
Read article →Samand Siabandov (1909-1989) was a Kurdish Soviet actor, director, and cultural figure who pioneered Kurdish theatre and performing arts in the Soviet Caucasus, founding Kurdish dramatic culture in the USSR.
Read article →Qanate Kurdo (1909-1985) was a Kurdish Soviet scholar who produced the first comprehensive Kurdish grammar and dictionary, founding Kurdish linguistics as a modern academic discipline.
Read article →Heciyê Cindî (1908-1990) was a Kurdish scholar from the Soviet Caucasus who pioneered the systematic study and documentation of Kurdish folklore, oral literature, and ethnography in the 20th century.
Read article →Abdolqader Zahedi (1907-2005) was a Kurdish Iranian politician who participated in the politics of Iranian Kurdistan across one of the longest political careers of any Kurdish figure — nearly a century of life.
Read article →Osman Sabri (1905-1993) was a Kurdish Syrian politician and writer who co-founded the Kurdish Democratic Party of Syria in 1957 — the first organised Kurdish political party in Syria.
Read article →Karim Sanjabi (1905-1995) was a Kurdish Iranian politician who led the National Front of Iran and briefly served as Foreign Minister in 1979, resigning in protest at the direction of the Islamic Revolution.
Read article →Abdullah Goran (1904-1962), Kurdish poet from Sulaymaniyah, revolutionised Sorani poetry by introducing free verse and modern sensibility, earning him the title father of modern Kurdish poetry.
Read article →Leyla Bedir Khan (1903-1986) was a Kurdish princess from the Bedir Khan family who became a celebrated dancer, artist, and cultural ambassador for Kurdish culture in Europe, and a scholar of Kurdish language.
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