Sara Ashurbeyli

Sara Ashurbeyli, also known as Sara Balabey gyzy Ashurbeyli (; 27 January 1906 – 17 July 2001) was an Azerbaijani historian, orientalist, and scholar. She was an expert on Baku's early and medieval history, and published several papers and books.

Biography

The daughter of an oil magnate, Sara Ashurbeyli was well educated; she finished Jeanne D’Arc College in Constantinople in 1925, and entered Baku State University in 1930, Azerbaijan having been a constituent republic of the Soviet Union at the time. She graduated as an orientalist; having also studied several European languages at the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute. As well as her native Azerbaijani, she knew Arabic, Persian, Turkish, French, German, Russian, and English.

Ashurbeyli was also an artist, and joined the Union of Azerbaijan's Artists in 1946. During her lifetime, she taught at various institutions and was a dean for a time. She got her Ph.D. in 1966. A Doctor of History Sciences, she was an Azerbaijan State prize laureate.

Her famous works include “History of Baku: Medieval Period” and “Shirvanshah State”. She had postulated that the name "Baku" has its origins in Zoroastrianism, taken from the word “baga” (meaning “the Sun” or “the God”) in several ancient middle-eastern languages.

She died in 2001 aged 95.