Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli - Pen Names

Pen Names

Chamanzaminli is one of Yusif Vazirov's pennames. He adopted it in remembrance of the kindness of three brothers from a small remote village in Iran called "Chaman Zamin" which means "green or verdant meadow". In desperation, the brothers had come north to Shusha to escape the terrible drought in the Tabriz region of Iran at the end of 19th century. Vazirov's father had provided them with a place to stay. In turn, after he died and Yusif himself fell desperately ill with typhoid in 1906, the brothers came to his rescue. That's when Vazirov made a vow that if he ever became a writer that he would adopt the name of their village in gratitude.

Vazirov began using the Chamanzaminli penname at least as early as 1911 in his literary works. When Vazirov returned to Soviet Azerbaijan in 1926, he again took up the name—this time as "Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli".

However, literary works that are kept at the Baku Institute of Manuscripts show that Yusif Vazirov used at least 15 different pseudonyms to protect his identity starting as early as 1904 when he was only 17 years old. Often the names he chose hold symbolic meaning, such as "Badbakht" (Unlucky One), "Hagg Tarafdari" (Protector of Justice), "Musavi" (Equality), "Stradayushiy" (Sufferer), "Sarsam," (Crazy One).

In 1907, Vazirov, 20, wrote a Letter to the Editor of the famous satiric magazine "Molla Nasraddin" attacking the Muslim clergy in his hometown of Shusha. As a result, he received death threats. In his diaries, Vazirov acknowledges how foolish he was not to have used a pseudonym.

In 1911, Vazirov wrote under the name "Ali Khan Chamanzaminili" for the folktale "Malak Mammad" that he published in literary form for the first time. Curiously, "Ali Khan" is exactly the same name of the protagonist in "Ali and Nino".