Azerbaijan: An Overview - Anne Thompson-Ahmadova

We are delighted that Anne Thompson-Ahmadova has agreed to deliver an in-person talk to the Society on Azerbaijan. Anne has a deep and extensive knowledge of the country, its language, people and culture, and is extremely well-qualified to tell us more about this fascinating country. In her illustrated talk Anne will give us an overview of the country and will initially provide some essential geographical and historical context. Azerbaijan’s geo-political position could not be more sensitive, situated as it is at the boundary of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Russia lies to the north and Iran to the south, with Georgia, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and the Caspian Sea to the east.

Anne will go on provide an outline of Azerbaijan’s system of governance, with an update on the present political and social situation, including in Karabakh, and on relations with its neighbours, in particular Russia and Armenia. She will also report on the state of the country’s economy - the continuing importance of oil and gas, early steps in clean energy, tourism and Azerbaijan’s growing role as an international transport and logistics hub. Last, but by no means least, Anne will tell us about Azerbaijan’s rich cultural heritage – artistic, musical and literary – and will say a few words about the Azerbaijani language.

Anne Thompson-Ahmadova is a writer and translator from Azerbaijani, French and Russian, who focuses on Azerbaijan and the Caucasus. She moved to Baku in 1997, initially to set up a Caucasus bureau for BBC Monitoring, and lived there for 20 years. Having specialised in the politics and economics of Azerbaijan and the wider region earlier in her career, Anne now concentrates on Azerbaijani literature and culture. Anne has translated a range of work by Azerbaijani authors, including Banine’s ‘gloriously comic’ memoirs from the original French, Kamal Abdulla’s post-modern novels from Azerbaijani and some of Chingiz Abdullayev’s thrillers from Russian.

[Note: Banine was the pen-name of Umm El-Banu Asadullayeva (1905-1992), a writer who was born into a wealthy family in Baku. She lived through the turbulent years of the early 20th century in Azerbaijan before emigrating to France in 1923. Banine’s memoirs, Days in the Caucasus and Parisian Days, have been published in English by Pushkin Press.]