Biography
Kurdo was born into a Yezidi family. He attended a Kurdish school in Tbilisi. Many other Kurdish writers (such as Dr. Çerkez Bakayêv) in the former Soviet Union were also educated in that school. In 1928, he went to Saint Petersburg to continue his studies, where he attended the Language, history and literature department of University of Leningrad. He received his PhD in 1941. When World War II was reaching its end, Kurdo became part of the “Faculty of Oriental Studies in Leningrad where he taught Kurdish in the Department of Iranian Studies”. In 1961, he became the head of the new Kurdology section of the faculty (Kurdskij Kabinet), “which Joseph Orbeli had established in 1959”.[1] Especially important parts of Kurdo’s legacy are the Kurdish (Kurmanci)-Russian dictionary («Курдско-русский словарь (курманджи)») and the Kurdish (Sorani)-Russian dictionary («Курдско-русский словарь (сорани)»), that he compiled together with Z.A. Yusupova.
In 1972 a large collection of Kurdish folklore, prepared by Qanate Kurdo was published in Bagdad.
Kurdo died in Leningrad on October 31, 1985.
Works
Qanate Kurdo wrote more than 100 monographs, books and articles on the Kurdish language, history and folklore. He also supervised more than 20 other Kurdologists.
Books on Kurdish language
-Kurdoev, K. K., Grammatika kurdskogo jazyka (kurmandzhi): fonetika, morfologija (The grammar of the Kurdish language: Phonetic, Morphology), Moscow, 1957
-Kurdoev, K. K., Kurdsko-Russki Slovar (Kurmanji-Russian Dictionary), 890 p., Moscow, 1960.
-Kurdoev, K. K., Ḥālatakānī jins u bīnāy barkār la zāzādā: On gender and number in the Zaza dialect of Kurdish, Translated by Azīz Ibrāhīm, Chāpkhānay Kōrī Zānyārī Kurd, Baghdad 1977, 32 p.
-Kurdoev, K. K., Grammatika kurdskogo iazyka na materiale dialektov kurmandzhi i sorani Moskva (The comparison of the grammar of Kurdish dialects: North Kurmanji and south Kurmanji), 293 p., 1978.
-Kurdoev, K. K. and Yusupova, Z.A., Kurdsko-Russki Slovar (Sorani) Russkii yazik (Sorani-Russian Dictionary), 752 p., Moscow, 1983.
Literature and Folklore
-Tarîxa Edebiyata Kurdî, cilda 1 (The history of Kurdish Literature), two volumes,1983/1985.
-Duwanzdeh varîant, Mem û Zîn (Twelve versions of Mam and Zin), 1996.[1]