Hamlet Abdulla Oglu Isayev (, ; born March 1, 1948) is an Azerbaijani polymath, mathematician, professor, poet, translator, entrepreneur, author, and specialist in science, culture, and the history of education. He founded Khazar University and served as president from 1991 to 2010, and is currently chairman of the university's board of directors and trustees. He founded Dunya School, founded a publishing house in Baku, Azerbaijan, and translates poetry, lectures, and edits. He is a founding member of the Eurasian Academy. "Hamlet Isakhanli" is his penname used in publications in the humanities, social sciences, and poetry. His works in mathematics are published under the surname Isayev (Г.А. Исаев, Hamlet Isaev or Hamlet A.Isayev). He is also known as Hamlet Isakhanli (Hamlet Isaxanli, Hamlet İsaxanlı)). As a polymath, Isakhanli's academic and literary works cover a broad range of fields.

Biography

Isakhanli finished high school with a gold medal and was admitted to the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics at Azerbaijan State University (BSU) in 1965. In 1970, he graduated with honors, and was admitted to postgraduate studies at BSU, before attending Lomonosov Moscow State University for graduate studies and research. In 1973, he received a Ph.D. in physical-mathematical sciences. From 1973 to 1983, he was a professor at Azerbaijan State Institute of Oil and Chemistry (currently Azerbaijan State Oil Academy), and chaired the department of mathematics at the Baku campus of Leningrad Institute of Economics and Finance. Isakhanli is a member of the Hajibayramli clan. He was married to Naila Isayeva.

Research

Isakhanli is a co-author and co-editor of the Khazar English-Azerbaijani Comprehensive Dictionary in six volumes, of which the first three volumes have been published. Isakhanli discusses in his writings the problems of poetry and philosophy, political science and international relations, history, and journalism.

Poetry

Isakhanli has translated poetry written in English, Russian and French, into Azerbaijani, particularly the poems of George Gordon Byron, W. Blake, Robert Herrick, and Gérard de Nerval, Vasily Zhukovsky, Evgeny Baratynsky, Fyodor Tyutchev, Afanasy Fet, Sergei Yesenin, Nikolay Gumilev, Anna Akhmatova, and Alla Akhundova. The lyrics of his poems have been used for composing songs and musical performances.

Reforms in education

Isakhanli studied educational organizations in the West, and in the late 1980s, wrote about an educational crisis in the Soviet Union and Azerbaijan, offering solutions in articles published in newspapers—and broadcast on radio and TV—in Azerbaijan and Russia.

Khazar University and Dunya School

Khazar University (previously Azerbaijan University), established on March 18, 1991, was the first private university, and one of the first officially established universities, stablished in Azerbaijan in the post-Soviet era. It features a Western-type curricula, a flexible credit accumulation system, a student-centered model of education, application of modern methods of management, broad and effective international relations, and local and foreign specialists. Dunya School, established by Isakhanli in 1998, is affiliated with Khazar University, and provides pre-school, primary, secondary, and high school level students with bilingual education in Azerbaijani and English languages, offering an International Baccalaureate and IB Diploma Program.

Awards

In 2010, Isakhanli received the National Khazar Award, in recognition of his contribution to Azerbaijani education, and for founding a university that meets international standards.

Publications