The article discusses the life and work of Ali Razi Shamchizadeh, a poet with a humanistic idealogy who lived and worked in Ganja in the early twentieth century. The research also provides information about Razi's great-grandmother, the poetess lady Shamama. This information has been studied on the basis of examples taken from Ali Razi's own creative work. The initial education of the poet and the education system of the Russian-Tatar (Azerbaijani) school in Ganja at that time, as well as professional teachers who taught there have been indicated in this article. The article also draws attention to the influence of the prominent enlightened poet Abdullah Sur on Ali Razi's activities and worldview. It also discusses Ali Razi Shamchizadeh's relation with Molla Nasreddin journal and its professional members, and the turning point that this school of satire had created in the poet's work, as well as in his views on public ideas.
Ali Razi's poems with humanistic ideals have always served to protect the interests of ordinary people, to hear the silenced voices of women who have been subjected to oppression and injustice, and to shed light on political and social issues of society's concern. The examples of the poet's literary heritage have been discussed in the article. Additionally, his poems which reflect the socio-political, cultural, and scientific environment of Ganja have been analyzed in terms of content and ideas. The article also focuses on the creative direction of the poet's artistic work, when he was the executive secretary of the Union of Writers, dedicating his literary and public activities to the service of people. Therefore, brief information about the life period of the poet, who was persecuted by the tsarist regime and ended by shooting as a result of this direction has been underlined.
In conclusion, the importance of the literary heritage of Ali Razi Shamchizadeh in the history of Azerbaijani literature as a poet-publicist and in the study of the socio-political environment of Ganja has been brought to attention.