Govhar Bakhshaliyeva

Govhar Bakhshaliyeva (born November 1954, in Baku) is an Azerbaijani academic and politician. She is the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.^[1]

Education and academics

After finishing high school in 1972, Bakhshaliyeva entered the Arabic branch of the Oriental Studies faculty of Azerbaijan State University (ASU). In 1977, she graduated from ASU with an honours degree and was employed at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where she held positions of senior laboratory assistant, junior research officer, and chief of the Arabian Philology department.

Since 1993, Bakhshaliyeva has held the position of deputy director on science of the Institute of Oriental Studies, and since 1997 she has been working as the Institute's director. She is an Academician of the International Academy of Sciences, and is an expert in the field of classic and modern Arabic literature, Arab-speaking Azerbaijan literature, comparative literary criticism, literary communications and source study.

Her works have gained general acceptance by the scientific community all over the former Soviet republics and Arab countries. Articles about her activities have been published in media and many scholarly articles cite her works. She is an author of three monographs, five books and 85 scientific articles and lectures. She is the scientific editor of many works in the field of Eastern philology and source study and is the editor or a member of an editorial board of several journals. She is the editor-in-chief of the journal Azerbaijan Oriental Studies.

Bakhshaliyeva has repeatedly represented the Azerbaijan oriental Studies in foreign countries (Russian Federation (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Makhachkala, Simferopol), Iran, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, etc.). A number of her articles are published in foreign media.

Bakhshaliyeva took an active part in training of personnel in the field of oriental studies; eleven theses were defended under her direct guidance. She is Chairman of Dissertation Council for "Literature of Turkic Peoples" and "World Literature", and is Chairman of the Problem Council for coordination of scientific activities in the field of Oriental Studies in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

She has also taught and led special courses on the subject of Arabic literature at the faculty of Oriental Studies of Baku State University.

As a result of Bakhshaliyeva's activity, the "brain drain" that started at the Institute of Oriental Studies in the beginning of 1990 was stopped and scientific potential of the Institute was strengthened by involving talented young personnel. Simultaneously, along with traditional classical directions of Oriental Studies, new research fields started to be highlighted at the Institute which met modern demands of the Azerbaijan science. For this purpose structural changes were initiated at the Institute; new departments and scientific groups were organized. Under Bakhshaliyeva’s guidance for the last years the international scientific communications of the Institute extended considerably. Active scientific exchanges with the Centers for Oriental Studies of the USA, Germany, Holland, China, Russia, Turkey, Arab countries, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other similar centers of foreign countries were fulfilled.

Political career

On November 5, 2000 Bakhshaliyeva was elected a deputy of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan representing election district No. 57, covering Barda and Aghjabadi. From June 2001 to December 2005, she held a position of Vice Speaker of Milli Majlis. As the Vice Speaker, she was in charge of social legislation. In November 2005, Bakhshaliyeva was again elected a deputy of Milli Majlis. She is a member of the Standing Committee on Science and Education. She is also head of the delegation from the Milli Majlis to the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. She headed a delegation of Milli Majlis that visited Egypt, Germany, Norway, France, Great Britain, and Italy.

References

External links

• Organizational Structure Chart from the Institute of Oriental Studies (in Azerbaijani).