Kurdish History Journal
Articles filed under Kurdish Icons.
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) served as Syria’s Grand Mufti from 1964. His educational network and interfaith work developed within a close, debated relationship with state power.
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, usually dated 1911–1972, wrote poetry, stories and translations. His work belongs to modern Kurmanji literature and the Kurdish periodicals of exile.
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 →Qanatê Kurdo, also published as Kanat Kalashevich Kurdoev (1909–1985), was a Kurdish linguist whose career developed in Leningrad. His work includes Kurmanji grammars, Kurdish–Russian dictionaries, literary history and the editing of Kurdish texts.
Read article →Heciyê Cindî’s work connected oral storytelling, schoolbooks, journalism and fiction in the Kurdish-speaking world of Soviet Armenia.
Read article →Abdolqader Zahedi was a Sunni Kurdish religious scholar, Saqqez Friday prayer leader and Kurdistan representative in Iran's Assembly of Experts from 1999 to 2005.
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) helped lead Iran’s National Front and briefly served as foreign minister in 1979. His testimony and political declarations explain his Kurdish background, cooperation with Khomeini and objections to divided government.
Read article →Abdullah Suleiman Goran (1904–1962), born in Halabja, helped reshape Sorani poetry through new rhythms, dramatic dialogue, translation and socially engaged writing.
Read article →Leyla Bedir Khan’s career connected Egypt, Vienna, Stockholm, Paris and Milan. Explore her family background, varied repertoire, 1932 role in Belkis and the changing meaning of her public image as a Kurdish princess.
Read article →Cigerxwîn (1903–1984) joined Kurmanji poetry to demands for national freedom, education and social justice. His books, Baghdad teaching and years in Sweden reveal a career larger than a single patriotic label.
Read article →Rafiq Hilmi (1898-1960) was a Kurdish poet, scholar, and political activist from Sulaymaniyah who pioneered modern Sorani Kurdish poetry and contributed to the development of Kurdish political consciousness in Iraq.
Read article →Husni al-Zaʿim, a Syrian army officer of Kurdish origin, seized power on 30 March 1949 and was overthrown and killed on 14 August. His formal presidency began later, after a June plebiscite. Contemporary diplomatic records illuminate the collapse of parliamentary government, recognition of his regime, negotiations with Israel and proposals concerning Palestinian refugees.
Read article →Arab Shamilov, also known as Erebê Şemo, was a Kurdish writer from Susuz in the Kars region. His career connects Şivanê Kurmanca, Latin-alphabet work in Soviet Armenia, repression and a return to publishing after rehabilitation.
Read article →Celadet Alî Bedirxan’s work joined alphabet teaching, Kurdish literature and grammar. Hawar’s surviving pages reveal the programme, readers and practical work behind that achievement.
Read article →Sheikh Ahmed Barzani (died 1969) led the Barzan community through revolt, displacement and imprisonment. His history must be distinguished from his brother Mustafa’s Soviet exile.
Read article →Nur Ali Elahi (1895-1974) was a Kurdish Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) spiritual master and virtuoso musician from Kermanshah, whose tanbur playing and mystical teachings influenced both Yarsan devotees and the international spiritual world.
Read article →Kamuran Alî Bedirxan (1895–1978) connected Kurdish publishing in Beirut with language teaching in Paris. His work can be traced through journals, teaching materials and recollections, while the Kurdish Institute founded after his death belongs to the later history of preserving his legacy.
Read article →Gholamreza Rashid Yasemi combined poetry, literary criticism, translation and historical writing. His book on Kurdish connections with Iran belongs to the intellectual setting of the 1930s and has also drawn criticism for its nationalist and racial framework.
Read article →Kara Fatima Khanum attracted attention when she arrived in Istanbul with mounted followers during the Crimean War. Contemporary reporting and Ottoman records illuminate her military service, while leaving important questions about identity and biography unsettled.
Read article →From an Ottoman military education to Kurdish resistance at Ararat: Ihsan Nuri’s changing career, cross-border politics and surviving memoirs.
Read article →Hapsa Khan Naqib, also written Hepse Xanî Neqîb or Hafza Chan, is remembered for promoting women’s literacy, education and participation in public life in Sulaimani. Her connections to the Barzanji family placed this work within the political upheavals that followed the First World War.
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