Shukriya

Completed Theatre

• Academic National Drama Theatre
• 18 Jan 2026 - 18 Jan 2026

Javid Zeynalli about the play "Shukria".

  The play, based on writer Cavid Zeynallı’s drama “Shukriyyə”, tells the story of Shukriyyə Akhundzade — the wife of Ahmad Javad, the independence poet and author of the National Anthem of Azerbaijan, who was repressed in 1937.

After Ahmad Javad’s arrest, during interrogation Shukriyyə was offered a choice: if she divorced the “enemy of the people,” she could save herself and her children from exile. She refused, declaring: “My divorce petition would be worse than a bullet fired at Javad.” For this, she was exiled to a labor camp in the Akmolinsk region of Kazakhstan.

Years earlier, when she had run away to Batumi to join Ahmad Javad, her own family had rejected her. Now fate placed her before yet another harsh trial. In exile, Shukriyyə had no news of her husband or her children. This devoted woman endured one dreadful hardship after another with patience and fortitude, and not even the most severe ordeals could break her strong will.

A victim of her love, Shukriyyə served eight years in exile and eventually returned to her homeland as one of the countless victims of Stalin’s repressions. Alongside the central plot, the play also highlights the fates of other women exiled from different countries, bringing to the audience themes of moral purity and the preservation of human dignity in the face of severe trials.

The stage director of the production is Honored Art Worker Bahrām Osmanov.