Huseyngulu Sarabski

Huseyngulu Sarabski , born Hseynqulu Malik olu Rzayev , was an Azerbaijani opera singer , composer, playwright, stage actor, theatre director, and musician .

Sarabski was born to poor parents in Baku on Nowruz Eve. At a young age, he was sent to a mullah to study the Koran. Unable to overcome the language barrier and having received severe beatings from the mullah, Huseyngulu managed to convince his parents to let him quit. In 1891, at the age 12, he watched a theatrical performance for the first time. It was staged by amateur actors and called Khan Sarabi adapted from Mirza Fatali Akhundovs play Sarguzashti vaziri Khani Lankaran. Young Huseyngulu enjoyed the performance and later chose the pseudonym Sarabski reflecting on his first encounter with theatre. As a teenager, he enrolled in Russian night courses for the poor funded by Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. Before becoming a prominent actor, he had been making a living through smithery, stone dressing and blue collar work.

Source: Wikipedia