ARIF NADIR MUSTAFAYEV (1938) Historian, ethnographer

Arif Mustafayev was born on 15 July 1938. In 1952, he graduated with honors from Qazakh Pedagogical Vocational School. From 1956 to 1961, he studied at Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Faculty of History and Philology. Upon graduation he was appointed a history teacher at Kurdamir region enlightenment department. In 1964-1965, he worked as a censor at the Central Press Department under Azerbaijan SSR Cabinet of Ministers. From 1965 to 1968, he did postgraduate studies in ethnography at the Institute of History, Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. From 1968 to 1975, he served as a junior research fellow at the Department of Ethnography, Institute of History. From 1975-1978, Arif Mustafayev was employed as scientific secretary at archaeology and ethnography sector under the Institute of History. From 1978 to 1989, he served as a senior research fellow here. He defended a PhD thesis in 1970, achieving a ScD degree in 1994 and professorship in 1999. From 1989 to 2014, he headed “History of Azerbaijani Material Culture” Research Laboratory under the Faculty of History, Baku State University. His major research areas include the history of Azerbaijani material culture and arts in Azerbaijan, on which he has published over 350 papers, including 10 monographs. He is co-author of the first volume of “Ethnography of Azerbaijan” book, third, fourth and fifth editions of “Ethnographic collection of Azerbaijan” and 1st-10th editions of “Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia”. From 1994 to 2003, he served as an expert at the Higher Attestation Commission under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.