Kurdish Figures

A brief about his life The poet Younis Mulla Raouf was born on February 20, 1918, in the city of Koye of Erbil governorate, the capital of the Kurdistan Region. He studied primary and middle school in the schools of Koya and Rania, then moved to Kirkuk to study secondary …

Ramzi Nafi or Ramzi Nafi Rashid Agha(Kurdish: رەمزی نافیع ئاغا; Latinized: Ramzî Nafî Reşîd Aghâ) (1917-1949) was a Kurdish National Socialist. As one of the most controversial figures in recent Kurdish history, his involvement in the failed Operation Mammut has earned him high reputation in Kurdistan. YouthEdit He attended primary …

Haji Qadir Koyi (Kurdish: حاجی قادری کۆیی, romanized: Hacî Qadirî Koyî; c. 1817-1897) was a Kurdish poet. He carried on the nationalistic message of Ahmad Khani in his writings. He wanted to enlighten the people and help them to remedy the problems of illiteracy and backwardness and ideas which result from lack …

Ibrahim Pasha Milli, 1843 – 1908 (sometimes also referred to as ‘Milli Ibrahim Pasha’ of the tribe of Milli, Milan, Mellan; Turkish Brahim Paşayê Milî ar ابراهيم باشا ملى), was the chief of the Kurdish Milan tribal federation in Upper Mesopotamia, the Aleppo Vilayet, and the Syrian Vilayet of the …

Abdullah Beg Benari was a Kurdish tribal leader, who lived from 1880 to 1939. He was the son of Sheikh Jahangir, who was the son of Sultan Beg, and a descendant of Bradostian Kurdish princes who fought in the battle of Dimdim Castle against the Iranian invasion by the Shah …

Simko Shikak (born Ismail Agha Shikak 1887 – 1930, Kurdish: سمکۆی شکاک, romanized: Simko Şikak) was a Kurdish chieftain of the Shekaktribe. He was born into a prominent Kurdish feudal family based in Chihriq castle located near the Baranduz river in the Urmia region of northwestern Iran. By 1920, parts of …

Biography Qazi Muhammad was born into a noble Kurdish family from Mahabad.  His father had cooperated with Ismail Shimko during his revolt against the Iranian government in the 1920s, and his brother Sadr Qazi was a member of the Iranian parliament. After his father’s death, he was nominated as a judge in …

Celadet Alî Bedirxan (Kurdish: Celadet Alî Bedirxan ,جەلادەت عالی بەدرخان;[1][2] 26 April 1893 – 1951), also known as Mîr Celadet, was a Kurdish diplomat, writer, linguist, journalist and political activist. He held a master’s degree in law from Istanbul University, completed his studies in Munich, and spoke several languages including Arabic, …

Tawfeq Mahmoud Hamza or Piramerd(Kurdish: پیرەمێرد) (1867 – 19 June 1950) was a Kurdish poet, writer, novelist and journalist. He was born in the Goija neighborhood of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region. In 1926, he became the editor of the Kurdish newspaper Jîyan. He also established a private Kurdish school in Kurdistan, …

Said Nursi (1876-1960) was a Kurdish Islamic modernist who founded the nondenominational Nur Movement (Nurҫuluk), which advocated for a reinterpretation of Islam according to the needs of a modern society, a legacy of attempts by the Young Ottomans to reconcile Islam with constitutionalism. He was strongly opposed to positivism, and believed …