Akif Ali

Akif Ali oglu Maharramov (Akif Ali) is a Soviet and Azerbaijani writer, philologist, and the head of the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1994–2019). Honored journalist, 2nd degree state counselor. Akif Ali oglu was born in Shusha, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR. His father, lawyer Ali Maharramov (1924–1977), worked for many years in the prosecutor's office and the judicial system of the republic, and was also a member of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

His mother, Shahla Maharramova (1928–2008), was a housewife. Akif Ali graduated from Baku Secondary School No. 16 (1970), Azerbaijan State Institute of Russian Language and Literature named after M.F. Akhundov (1974), acting courses at the Azerbaijanfilm studio (1974), and the Baku Higher Party School (1989). For many years, he was involved in literary and artistic creation, working in film, radio, television, science, education, the press, and public service.

He began his career as an assistant director on the film "1001st Tour" at the Azerbaijanfilm studio, starring the distinguished actor Rashid Behbudov. Then, as an actor, he received invitations to star in feature films and created memorable characters, including Rustam in "Brief Encounters in a Long War," "The Sound of the Pipe," "Blow from Behind," "If We Are Together," and others.

In 1978, he took a permanent position at the Azerbaijan State Television and Radio Broadcasting Committee and worked there until 1987. While working as the head of the Satire and Humor department on the radio (1981-1983), he hosted a number of popular radio programs ("Good Morning", satirical radio magazine "Molla Nasreddin", "Evening of Laughter" and others.

While working as the editor-in-chief of the "Programs for Youth" department on television (1983-1987), he was the creator, author or editor of many popular television programs ("Zeriflik" art collection, "Aygun" program for girls, "7 questions, 7 answers" quiz show, "Idrak" popular science program, "Student World", "Youth Night at the TV Theater", entertainment program "Tea, Tea, Tea", "Our Spiritual World", "Ganjlik" television magazine, "Chinar" literary almanac and others).

In recent years, he was the author and host of the cultural program "Time and Space" on the "Culture" channel of Azerbaijan Television, and the Voice of the Motherland program on Public Television, addressed to our compatriots living abroad (2011-2018). He is a member of the Union of Journalists of Azerbaijan (1981), the Guild of Professional Film Directors of Azerbaijan (2009) and the Union of Cinematographers of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2001), and is a laureate of the Golden Pen Award.

At the same time, he was engaged in scientific and pedagogical activities and defended his dissertation on "The Mastery of Satire of Mirza Alakbar Sabir" at the Institute of Literature of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1988). In 2000, he became an associate professor. He worked as the head of the Department of Cultural Studies at the Baku Institute of Social Management and Political Sciences (now the Academy of Public Administration) (1992-1994).

He taught courses on "History and Theory of World Culture", "History of Azerbaijani Culture" and "Information Security" at the university. Since 2000 is an associate professor.