Abbas Sahhat

Abbas Sahhat (, born Abbasgulu Aliabbas oglu Mehdizadeh; 1874 Shamakhi), was an Azerbaijani poet and dramatist.

Life and career Abbas Sahhat was born into the family of a cleric in the city of Shamakhi. He received his primary education from his father. At age 15 he started writing amateur poems. Beginning in 1892 he studied medicine in Mashhad and Tehran. After returning to Shamakhi around 1900 he abandoned his professional field, as Russian institutions did not recognize medical diplomas from Iran. Sahhat started teaching Azeri and literature first in primary schools and then in a Realschule. This period is considered the beginning of his career as a poet and playwright. In 1903 he began writing articles for the Azeri-language newspaper Sharg-i Rus, published in Tiflis. His articles mostly discussed topics in contemporary literature.

As a poet, Sahhat adhered generally to romanticism. His poetry was influenced by Ali bey Huseynzade, editor of the magazine in 1905–1907. Sahhat also translated works of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nadson, Krylov, Hugo, Musset, Prudhomme, Amir Khusro as well as a number of German poets into Azeri.