Akif Ali

Akif Ali (Akif Maharramov) was born in Shusha. He studied at the Azerbaijan State Institute of Russian Language and Literature (1974), the Film Acting Course at the "Azerbaijanfilm" film studio (1974), and the Baku Higher Party School (1989).

He worked as an assistant director and actor at a film studio (1974-1978), junior editor, editor and department head in the "Satire and Humor" department of the radio at the Azerbaijan State Television and Radio Broadcasting Committee (1978-1983), editor-in-chief of the Television's Youth Programs editorial office (1983-1987), co-founder (1990) and editor-in-chief (1991-1993) of the "Vetan Sesi" newspaper, senior lecturer, associate professor and head of the Cultural Studies department at the Baku Institute of Social Management and Political Science (1992-1994), and head of the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers (1994-2019).

He played the lead role (Rustam) in the Tajik film "Short Meetings in a Long War" (1975, directors Abdulsalom Rahimov, Stanislav Chaplin). He is the author of numerous scientific and journalistic articles, TV and radio scripts and journalistic works, and the film "Mozalan". The books "Let's Appreciate Beauty" (1984), "Modern Film Actors of Azerbaijan" (1984), "Unforgettable Paths" (1985), "Love Songs" (1989), "The Game of the Black Eyed Peas" (1999), "M.A. Sabir's Satirical Art" (1999), "First - the Homeland" (2003), "Moments of a Great Life" (2004), "Idrak" (2007) have been published. There are translations.

He was the author and editor of popular radio programs ("Good Morning" entertainment program, "Molla Nasreddin" satirical radio magazine, "Evening of Laughter" - 1981-1983), television programs ("Zeriflik" art collection, "Aygun" program for girls, "7 questions, 7 answers" TV quiz, "Idrak" scientific-mass program, "Student World", "Youth Night in the Teletheater", "Tea, Tea, Tea" entertainment programs, "Our Spiritual World", "Ganjlik" television magazine, "Chinar" literary almanac - 1983-1987). He was the author and host of the cultural program "Time and Place" broadcast on the "Culture" channel and the "Voice of the Motherland" program addressed to our compatriots living abroad on Public Television (2011–2018).

At the same time, he was engaged in scientific and pedagogical activities, and defended his dissertation on the topic "Mirza Alakbar Sabir's Satire Mastery" at the Institute of Literature of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, where he received a PhD in philology (1988), is an associate professor (2000). He was awarded the "Golden Pen" award, the medal "For Distinction in Public Service" (2013), and the rank of State Counselor of the 2nd degree (2012).

He is an Honored Journalist (2019).