* Princess Sînemxan Bedirxan (first row, first from the right)
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Granted the Honorary Award in the Kurdish Women's Poems Festival on December 1, Sînemxan Bedirxan (Sinemkhan Bedirkhan) has spoken to bianet. Indicating that the value given to the Kurdish women's literature is praiseworthy, Bedirxan has stated the following:
'Jin, Jiyan'
"I am very happy that I have received the award in my home country. It is very precious for me.
"It is written 'jin, jiyan' (woman, life) on the award. In other words, woman is life. It is terrific that so much value is given to women in my country.
"Using your question as an opportunity, I would like to extend my thanks to the organizers of the festival."
Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government and its Ministry of Culture and Youth previously announced that they partially suspended cultural activities on the ground of ongoing fight against the ISIS and the unfavorable economic situation that unfolded with the central Iraqi Federal Government. With this festival, the Ministry has declared that they will resume the activities.
10 women poets have also been granted awards in the Kurdish Women's Poems Festival. The names of these poets have not yet been announced on the website of the ministry or the KRG-based news websites.
About Sînemxan Bedirxan
She taught French lessons as a faculty member at Salahaddin University in Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government. She has been living in Erbil since 2006. She was granted the Rejion Denore Award in France in 2013.
In addition to Kurdish, she also knows French, Arabic and Turkish.
She lived with her husband Prof. Dr. Salah Saadalah in Kirkuk between 1960 and 1974. She chaired the Kurdistan Women's Association. She lived in Baghdad from 1974 to 2006.
She worked as a French teacher at an international school affiliated with the United Nations (UN) between 1980 and 1995.
She is the Honorary Chair of Kurdish PEN.
She is also the daughter of the last governor of Cizre-based Botan Principality Celadet Alî Bedirxan and the niece of Dr. Kamiran Ali Bedirxan.
Bedirxan, one of her great grandfathers, had sermons given in his name, coined money with "Kurdistan Prince, Bedirxan" written on them and declared independence against the Ottomans.
The family was exiled during the Ottoman era and the Independence Tribunals of the early Republic of Turkey gave death sentence to several family members, including Celadet and Kamiran.
Marks of Bedirxanî on Kurdish language, journalism
Sînemxan Bedirxan's father Celadet Ali Bedirxan wrote the Kurdish alphabet and modern Kurdish grammar with the currently used Roman characters. He published Hawar, the first Kurdish magazine published in Latin script (1932).
Her paternal uncle Miktad Midhat Bedir-Xan published the first Kurdish newspaper Kürdistan in 1898.
Her paternal uncle Dr. Kamiran Ali Badirxan established the Kurdology Department in Sorbonne University in Paris and taught lessons there.
Leyla Bedirxan, the daughter of her paternal uncle, is the first Kurdish ballet dancer. (MB/SD)
* Source: Biyografi.net, Bas News, Rûdaw
** Photo: Facebook/MahabadQaradaghi