Alasgar Mammadov

Alasgar Mammadov (; 10 October 1919 – 29 January 2000), also known as Ali Assger Mamedov or Ali Asgar Mammadov, was an Azerbaijani and Soviet orientalist, Arabist, pedagogue, honored scientist, and specialist in German and Arabic languages. He is considered the founder of modern Arabic studies in Azerbaijan. He was also notable for his work as one of the two Azerbaijani translators at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals following World War II.

Biography Early years and education Alasgar Mammadov was born on 10 October 1919 in Keshla, Baku and was raised by his uncle due to premature death of his parents.

After graduating from seven-year high school, He was one of the two Azerbaijanis who participated in the international tribunal along with Enver Mamedov. While working in the ministry, Alasgar Mammadov translated a large part of the seized diplomatic documents, approximately more than 30, of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Russian.

Later, Alasgar Mammadov mentioned the following memories in his interviews about the Nuremberg Tribunal:

Scientific and pedagogical work Since August 1947, after marrying Shovkat khanim, In 1947-1950, he worked as a senior lecturer at the university and completed postgraduate studies in Arabic language. In 1953, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Sciences in Philological Sciences. Mammadov became an associate professor in 1954 and a professor in 1967. Then, he was awarded the title of Honored Scientist in 1992.

In addition to Arabic, Alasgar Mammadov was also fluent in Russian, German, French, Persian and English. He is the author of more than 30 Arabic language textbooks. Mammadov's first 573-page Arabic Language textbook was published in 1958 in the Soviet Union with an initial print run of 5,000 copies and used not only in Azerbaijan, but also in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. He was treated at the Republican Clinical Hospital named after Mirasadulla Mirgasimov until his death.