Notable Êzîdî Personalities

This article presents significant Êzîdî personalities from activism, politics, religion, scholarship, literature, music and film. Only persons whose Êzîdî origin and biographical data are documented by reliable sources are included. Since Êzîdî, Sunni Kurds, Alevis and Yarsan are frequently confused in media reports, the following applies to every entry: when in doubt, leave it out.

Note on scope: The office of Mîr and the religious offices are covered in detail in the article [Sacred Genealogy], the political present in the article [Êzîdî Politics]. Women of the community are the focus of [Êzîdî Women], the 2014 genocide of the article [Genocide 2014], the musical tradition of [Music & Dengbêj], the Caucasian history of [Êzîdî in Armenia & Georgia], the German diaspora of [Êzîdî in Germany]. Here the persons themselves are the focus.

1. Activism and Human Rights

Nadia Murad (Kurmancî: Nadia Murad Basee Taha; *1993, Kocho/Şingal) is the internationally best-known Êzîdî of the present day. On 15 August 2014 she was abducted by ISIS and enslaved in Mosul for three months before she managed to escape. From 2015 she testified before the UN Security Council, in 2016 she became UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking and received the Sakharov Prize as well as the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize. In 2018 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Denis Mukwege. Her autobiography The Last Girl (2017, German: Ich bin eure Stimme) became a global bestseller; her organisation Nadia’s Initiative (founded 2018) works on the reconstruction of Şingal. More on her role: see [Êzîdî Women] and [Genocide 2014].

Lamiya Aji Bashar (Kurmancî: Lemya Acî Beşar; *c. 1998, Kocho/Şingal) was abducted in 2014 like Nadia Murad. During her fourth, successful escape attempt she stepped on a mine and lost an eye as well as parts of her face. In 2016 the European Parliament honoured her together with Murad with the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought. She lives today in Germany (Baden-Württemberg, special quota).

Düzen Tekkal (*1978, Hanover) is a German-Êzîdî journalist, filmmaker and activist. She grew up as one of eleven children of an Êzîdî-Turkish family, reported from the Êzîdî regions from 2014 onward and made the documentary Háwar, My Journey into Genocide (2015). She founded the relief organisation HÁWAR.help (2016) and the educational platform GermanDream (2019); in 2019 she received the Federal Cross of Merit. More on the German diaspora: see [Êzîdî in Germany].

Pari Ibrahim (*1986, Netherlands, family from Şêxan) founded the Free Yezidi Foundation (The Hague) in 2014, which among other things operates a women’s centre in Khanke (Iraq), and regularly represents Êzîdî concerns at the United Nations.

Murad Ismael (*1985, Şingal) is co-founder of Yazda (2014), the largest international Êzîdî NGO, as well as of the Sinjar Academy. The US-trained geophysicist is among the most important voices of the diaspora; Haider Elias has led Yazda as president since 2015.

Mirza Dinnayi (Kurmancî: Mîrza Dinnayî; *1973, Şingal) was an adviser to Iraqi President Talabani and founded Air Bridge Iraq (Luftbrücke Irak), which brought injured Êzîdî to Germany for treatment. In 2019 he received the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.

Dalal Khairo (*c. 1995, Şingal) is a former ISIS captive who, after her escape, became a witness of the genocide before international bodies and was honoured with women’s rights awards.

Among the survivors who testify to the genocide internationally are also Salwa Khalaf Rasho and Ekhlas Khudur Bajoo, who became known through appearances before UN bodies and in international media (BBC, Guardian), as well as the activist and photographer Adiba Qasim from the Şingal region, whose documentation work has been reported on by international media.

2. Politics

Iraq and Autonomous Region of Kurdistan

Vian Dakhil (Kurmancî: Vîan Dexîl; *1971, Dohuk) has been a member of the Iraqi parliament (KDP) since 2010 and was for a long time the only Êzîdî there. She became world-famous through her speech of 5 August 2014, in which, in tears, she implored parliament to save the Êzîdî surrounded by ISIS (“Save us! Save us!”). The speech, after which she collapsed at the lectern, reached a global audience via CNN and contributed to the decision of US President Obama to authorise air strikes and a relief operation on Mount Şingal. On 12 August 2014 she survived the crash of a relief helicopter with a broken leg. In 2014 she received the Anna Politkovskaya Award. More: see [Êzîdî Women] and [Êzîdî Politics].

Khairy Bozani (Kurmancî: Xeyrî Bozanî) is Director for Êzîdî Affairs in the KRG Ministry of Religious Endowments and a central voice on issues such as the missing Êzîdî (c. 2,600 as of 2025) and the identification of mass-grave victims.

Mahma Khalil (Kurmancî: Mehma Xelîl), Iraqi member of parliament and former mayor of Şingal (Sinjar), represents the Êzîdî community in Iraqi politics.

Germany

Feleknas Uca (*1976, Celle) was born in Lower Saxony as the daughter of Êzîdî parents from Turkey. From 1999 to 2009 she was a member of the European Parliament (PDS/Die Linke), the first Êzîdî in the EU Parliament. In 2015 she was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the HDP (Diyarbakır Province).

Ali Atalan (Kurmancî: Elî Atalan) is a Kurdish-German politician of Êzîdî faith. He was a member of parliament for Die Linke in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia and at times also belonged to the Turkish parliament as a representative of the HDP.

Armenia

Rustam Bakoyan (Kurmancî: Rustem Bakoyan) entered the National Assembly of Armenia as a deputy and is regarded as an important representative of the country’s largest ethnic minority. At his instigation the parliament dealt with the legal classification of the 2014 genocide; on 16 January 2018 the National Assembly of Armenia unanimously (91 votes in favour) recognised the ISIS genocide against the Êzîdî as genocide, making it one of the first countries worldwide to take this step. More on the Caucasian community: see [Êzîdî in Armenia & Georgia].

3. Religious Leaders of the Present Day

Mîr Hazim Tahsin Said Beg (*1 May 1963, Ba’adre) has been Mîr (secular and spiritual leader) of all Êzîdî since 27 July 2019; he was sworn in at the Lalîş Temple by the Supreme Spiritual Council. His father and predecessor Mîr Tahsîn Saîd Beg (1933–2019) held the office from 1944, that is, for 75 years, and in 2014 was a decisive voice calling for the protection of the Êzîdî.

Xurto Hecî Îsmaîl (Baba Şêx) (1933–2020) was from 1995 until his death the supreme spiritual dignitary (Baba Şêx). His successor in November 2020 became Şêx Alî Ilyas. Details on the religious offices and their position in the caste order: see [Sacred Genealogy].

4. Historical Religious Figures

Şêx Adî ibn Musafir (c. 1075–1162) is the central historical figure of the Êzîdî religion; his tomb in Lalîş is the holiest site of the Êzîdî. Şêx Hesen (Sheikh Hasan ibn Adi, 1195–1254) led the community to its first flowering in the 13th century; under him fundamental institutions and rules of Êzîdî society were established, before he was executed in 1254 on the orders of the Mosul Atabeg Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ. Êzdîna Mîr (11th/12th century) is, according to tradition, regarded as a religious leader before Şêx Adî and as the progenitor of the Şemsanî-Şêx lines (father of Şêx Şems, Fexredîn, Sicadîn and Nasirdîn). In detail: see [Sacred Genealogy].

5. Military and Historical Leaders

Êzîdî Mîrza (Kurmancî: Êzdî Mîrza, also Mîrza Pasha / Daseni Mîrza Beg; 1600–1651) came from a Şêx family of the Qatanî line in Başîqa and at the age of 25 became head of the Başîqa-Bahzanê community. In the Ottoman-Safavid war he rose to become supreme commander of the Êzîdî and in 1649 became governor of Mosul: the highest office an Êzîdî ever held in the Ottoman Empire. He fell in 1651 and lives on to this day in Êzîdî heroic songs and legends.

Hemoyê Şero (Hammo Schero; 1850–1935) was tribal leader of the Feqîr group in Şingal. During the genocide of the Armenians in 1915/16 he granted protection to around 20,000 Armenian refugees on Mount Şingal, organised their defence against Ottoman and allied forces and fought, at times with British support, until the incorporation of Şingal into the Iraqi state in 1919. He is regarded as a symbolic figure of the Êzîdî-Armenian shared destiny. More: see [Êzîdî in Armenia & Georgia].

Cangîr Axa (Jangir Agha; c. 1874–1943) was a leading military and social figure of the Êzîdî in Armenia. In 1918 he supported the Armenian armed forces with an Êzîdî cavalry squadron of around 300 men in the battles of Sardarabad and Bash-Aparan against the advancing Ottoman troops and is regarded as a national hero of the Armenian Êzîdî. Arrested in 1938 during the Great Terror, he died in 1943 in Soviet custody (Saratov) and was later rehabilitated. More: see [Êzîdî in Armenia & Georgia].

Heydar Şeşo (Kurmancî: Heyder Şeşo) built up Êzîdî self-defence units (HPÊ) in Şingal after 2014, which organised the protection of the home region against ISIS.

6. Êzîdî Scholars

Khanna Omarkhali (Kurmancî: Xanna Omerxalî; *1981) is a scholar of religion and linguistics of Êzîdî origin (Göttingen/FU Berlin). Her standard work The Yezidi Religious Textual Tradition: From Oral to Written (2017) documents the transition of the Êzîdî tradition from oral to written form.

Khalil Jindy Rashow (Kurmancî: Xelîl Cindî Reşo) is an Êzîdî scholar originating from Iraq and co-author (with Philip Kreyenbroek) of the Qewl edition God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect (2005). More on the Qewls: see [Sacred Genealogy].

Pîr Khidir Sileman (Kurmancî: Pîr Xidir Silêman; *1955, Şêxan) directs the Lalîş Centre in Duhok and has written numerous books on the Êzîdî religion in Arabic and Kurmancî.

Jan Ilhan Kizilhan (*1966) is a psychologist and trauma therapist of Êzîdî origin (Furtwangen University). He scientifically led the Baden-Württemberg Special Quota 2015, with which around 1,100 Êzîdî women and children were brought from Şingal to Germany; honoured among other things with the Federal Cross of Merit. More: see [Êzîdî in Germany].

Qanatê Kurdo (Qanate Kurdo, Qenatê Kurdoêv; 1909–1985) was a Soviet linguist of Êzîdî origin (Şerqîyan tribe) and one of the most important Kurdologists of the 20th century. He founded academic Kurdology at the University of Leningrad, wrote in 1957 the first comprehensive grammar of Kurmancî (in Russian) and produced Kurdish-Russian dictionaries. Over 100 monographs and essays are attributed to him.

Telim Tolan is a co-founder of the Êzîdî Academy of Hanover and stands out with lectures and essays on Êzîdî identity in Germany.

7. The Soviet-Armenian Scholarly and Literary Tradition

In Soviet Armenia a significant Êzîdî intellectual life arose in the 20th century; many works appeared via the Kurdish editorial office of Radio Yerevan and the newspaper Rya T’eze:

Erebê Şemo (Arab Shamilov / Arab Shamo; 1897–1978) wrote with Şivanê Kurmanca (“The Kurdish Shepherd”, published 1931, sometimes also dated 1935) the first novel in Kurmancî ever; further works are Berbang (1958) and Jiyana Bextewar. As early as 1928 he had co-authored the first Kurdish textbook printed in Latin script (Xwe bi Xwe Hînbûna Kurmancî). In 1937 he was exiled during the Great Terror and was only allowed to return to Armenia in 1956.

Heciyê Cindî (1908–1990), folklorist and linguist of Êzîdî origin in Yerevan, was commissioned in 1941 with the conversion of the Kurdish alphabet from Latin to Cyrillic; his 40-letter Cyrillic alphabet was approved in 1946 and used in the school systems of Armenia, Georgia and several Soviet republics (see [Alphabet History]). In addition he published extensive folklore collections.

Casimê Celîl (1908–1998) collected and edited Êzîdî-Kurdish folklore; his children Ordîxanê Celîl (1932–2007), Celîlê Celîl (*1936, historian and Kurdologist) and Cemîla Celîl continued the work (family archive “Cira” in Vienna).

Tosinê Reşîd (*1941, Armenia) is a folklorist and writer of the Êzîdî oral tradition (today Australia). Eskerê Boyîk (*1941, Armenia) has published several volumes of poetry in Kurmancî and has lived in Germany since the 1990s. Emerîkê Serdar (1935–2018) was a journalist, writer and translator of the Kurdish editorial office in Yerevan. Têmûrê Xelîl (*1949) is a journalist and translator who continues the work of his father Casimê Celîl.

Aziz Tamoyan (1933–2021) led the National Union of Êzîdî in Armenia from 1989 (worldwide from 1997), was co-author of Êzîdî schoolbooks and shaped the local debate on Êzîdî identity over three decades. More: see [Êzîdî in Armenia & Georgia].

8. Music and the Dengbêj Tradition

Karapetê Xaço (real name Karapet Xaçaturyan; c. 1900–2005) was one of the greatest Dengbêj singers of the 20th century and for decades the voice of the Kurdish editorial office of Radio Yerevan. He was not an Êzîdî, but an Armenian survivor of the 1915 genocide who survived through his command of Kurmancî and his vocal artistry; because he preserved and shaped the Êzîdî-Kurdish song heritage of Armenia, he is indispensable to the history of the Caucasian Êzîdî. Songs such as Ay lo mîro and Lê dayikê remain a fixed part of the repertoire to this day. More on the musical tradition: see [Music & Dengbêj].

A detailed account of the Êzîdî Qewwal, stran and Dengbêj tradition with further artists is offered by the article [Music & Dengbêj].

9. Film and Literature of the Diaspora

Soleen Yusef (*1987, Dohuk) is an Êzîdî-German filmmaker; her feature film House Without Roof (2016) won international awards. Hussein Hassan made with Reseba, The Dark Wind (2016) one of the first feature films about the 2014 genocide. Hogir Hirori (*1980, Dohuk), Kurdish-Êzîdî director in Sweden, won with the documentary Sabaya (2021) the directing award of the Sundance Festival; The Deminer (2017) was made earlier. The Êzîdî-German producer Mehmet Aktaş (Mîtos Film, Berlin) has made several of these productions possible.

Ronya Othmann (*1993, Munich) is a German-Êzîdî writer and journalist (father Kurdish-Êzîdî). An excerpt from her novel Vierundsiebzig, the title refers to the 74 Fermane (persecutions) of the Êzîdî, won the Audience Prize at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in 2019; her work revolves around trauma, flight and the 2014 genocide. More on the German diaspora: see [Êzîdî in Germany].

A complete film overview is offered by the article [Films & Documentaries].

10. Sport

Roman Amoyan (*3 September 1983, Yerevan) is an Armenian wrestler (Greco-Roman) of Êzîdî origin. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing he won bronze (up to 55 kg); he is also a two-time European champion and multiple World Championship medallist. He is regarded as the best-known Êzîdî athlete of the present day.

11. Research on the Êzîdî (non-Êzîdî scholars)

The scholarly study of the Êzîdî religion and culture is closely associated with the following names: Philip G. Kreyenbroek (Göttingen; Yezidism, Its Background, Observances and Textual Tradition, 1995), Christine Allison (Exeter; The Yezidi Oral Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan, 2001), Birgül Açıkyıldız (The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion, 2010), Eszter Spät (Late Antique Motifs in Yezidi Oral Tradition, 2010), Sebastian Maisel (Leipzig; Yezidis in Syria, 2017), Garnik Asatrian and Victoria Arakelova (Yerevan), Artur Rodziewicz (Warsaw; studies on Êzîdism and Hellenism), Joanna Bocheńska (Kraków), Estelle Amy de la Bretèque (CNRS; Êzîdî laments), Andreas Ackermann and Irene Dulz (Die Yeziden im Irak) as well as, as a historical pioneer, Roger Lescot (Enquête sur les Yézidis de Syrie et du Djebel Sindjar, 1938).

12. Supporters (non-Êzîdî)

Some non-Êzîdî personalities have made special contributions to the community: the human rights lawyer Amal Clooney (representing Nadia Murad and the genocide survivors), the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, the Kurdish-Swedish physician Nemam Ghafouri (1969–2021, founder of “Joint Help for Kurdistan”, died on assignment in Iraq of COVID-19), Naomi Kikoler (US Holocaust Memorial Museum, genocide documentation) and Lord David Alton (British House of Lords, recognition initiatives).

Sources (selection)

Activism & Nobel Peace Prize

• Nobelprize.org: The Nobel Peace Prize 2018: Nadia Murad
• European Parliament: Sakharov Prize 2016 (Nadia Murad / Lamiya Aji Bashar)
• Aurora Prize: Mirza Dinnayi: 2019 Aurora Prize Laureate

Politics

• Wikipedia: Vian Dakhil; MEMRI TV: Vian Dakhil speech in the Iraqi parliament, 05.08.2014
• Wikipedia: Feleknas Uca, Ali Atalan
• ANCA: Ethnic Minorities Win Seats in Armenian Parliament
• France 24, 16.01.2018: Armenia recognises genocide of Yazidis in Iraq; Armenian Weekly, 16.01.2018

Religious Leadership

• Wikipedia/Encyclopaedia Iranica: Hazim Tahsin Beg, Tahseen Said, “Yazidis i. General” (iranicaonline.org)
• KirkukNow / The New Arab: Enthronement of Mîr Hazim, Lalîş, 27.07.2019

Historical & military figures

• Wikipedia: Sheikh Hasan ibn Sheikh Adi II, Ezdina Mir
• Wikipedia: Ezidi Mirza (1600–1651, governor of Mosul 1649)
• Wikipedia: Hemoye Shero; Armenian Weekly, 26.03.2025: Yazidi efforts to protect Armenians
• Wikipedia: Jangir Agha, Battle of Sardarabad
• Wikipedia: Haydar Shesho

Scholarship & literature

• Publishers/works: Harrassowitz (Omarkhali 2017; Kreyenbroek/Rashow 2005), I.B. Tauris (Açıkyıldız 2010), Curzon (Allison 2001), Gorgias (Spät 2010), Lexington (Maisel 2017)
• Wikipedia/Encyclopaedia Iranica: Heciyê Cindî, Arab Shamilov (Erebê Şemo), Qanate Kurdo, KURDOEV, QENĀTĒ
• International Literature Festival Berlin: Ronya Othmann

Armenian-Caucasian tradition & music

• Wikipedia: Aziz Tamoyan (1933–2021), Karapetê Xaço

Sport

• Wikipedia: Roman Amoyan (Olympic bronze 2008)

Film

• Sundance Institute / press archives on Sabaya (2021), House Without Roof (2016), Reseba (2016)

Organisations

• nadiasinitiative.org, yazda.org, freeyezidi.org, hawar.help, auroraprize.com, zentralrat-eziden.com
• Overview: Wikipedia List of Yazidi people

Editorial note: Earlier versions of this article contained unverified individuals; these have been removed. New entries only with at least one independently verifiable source (Wikipedia + primary source, Encyclopaedia Iranica, prize archives etc.). Karapetê Xaço is expressly not listed as an Êzîdî but as an Armenian Dengbêj, as a formative figure of the Caucasian-Kurdish musical tradition. Biographical data according to WIKI-ZAHLEN-KANON.md (Mîr data, Şêx Hesen 1254).