Zafar Nematov

(1917 - 1971)

He was born on June 6, 1917 in Baku. He studied at the Azerbaijan State Theatre College and the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts. He completed an internship in directing in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

From 1943 he worked as a director at the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Young Spectators, and since 1954 he worked there as a chief director. He made productions in the Azerbaijani and Russian branches of this theatre, such as “Black girl”, “How the steel was tempered”, “The Snow Queen”, “Greedy”, “Yashar”, “King for a day”, “Mommy”, “Little Red Devils”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Inspector”, “The Steel Ring”, “Le Médecin malgré lui”, “Cinderella” and others.

He is the author of the book for young directors “About director’s work” (together with Mehdi Mammadov) and “Aliaga Agayev” (together with Tofig Kazimov).

From 1960 to 1971 he was deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Theatre Society. A number of important events in the history of national culture, including the first ASSITEJ festival, held in Azerbaijan in 1968, was held thanks to his initiative and hard work.

The building in which the Union of Theatre Workers is located (16, Khagani Street, Baku) was built under the patronage of national leader Heydar Aliyev, with the organization and direct participation of the great masters Mustafa Mardanov and Zafar Nematov.

Zafar Nematov died on November 19, 1971.