Gamar Sheyda

Gamar Sheyda (Azerbaijani: Qəmər bəyim Şeyda, Russian: Гамэр-бейим Шейда) (1881–1933) was a poet and playwright from Azerbaijan.

Gamar Sheyda was born in Shusha in 1881 as Gamarnisa to Ata Khan Abrakhanov (1827-1885) and Boyuk Khanum Javanshir (? - c.1910). Ata Khan died when his daughter was young and she was brought up by her older brother, Mohammed, who organised a teacher for his sister at home, and then later encouraged her to go to Shusha School for secondary education. As a teenager, she was presented to the poet Khurshidbanu Natavan at a Majlisi-uns (poetic assembly), who recognised her talent and gave her they nickname "Sheyda" which she adopted. Natavan's poetry was a strong influence on Sheyda.

Sheyda was married to Sadig bey Vazirov. They had six children: two sons - Bahadur bey and Nadir bey; four daughters - Leyla khanum, Sanuber khanum, Hamida khanum and Antiga khanum.

Sheyda died in Baku in 1933. It is reported that at her death Sheyda left many manuscripts, however only a few have survived.

Sheyda was a poet and was particularly well-known for writing ghazals. She was part of a wide poetic network in Azerbaijan and exchanged idea and poems with the writer Ziba Ardabili.

Sheyda also wrote plays and the manuscript of the "Flood of Oppression" (Azerbaijani: Zülmün Daşqını), written in 1918, is kept at the Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, as well as a copy of her ghazal Agan Jany.

Sheyda and other female poets from the Majilisi-uns group were chosen as inspiration for a project celebrating women from Azerbaijan in 2018. This exhibition was organised as part of the programme celebrating the centenary of the Republic of Azerbaijan.