Shamil Asgarov or Shamil Askerov[1] (Azerbaijani: Şamil Səlim oğlu Əsgərov, 1929,[2] Aghjakand – 20 May 2005, Baku) was a Kurdish scholar, poet, and researcher on the history of the Kurds in Azerbaijan. He was the leader of Kalbajar's large Kurdish community,[3] founder and former director of the Kurdish Museum in Kelbajar, [4] and editor of the Kurdish newspaper Denge Kurd published from 1991 to 2004 in Baku, Azerbaijan.[5] Shamil Asgarov translated the classic Kurdish love story Mem and Zin into Azerbaijani and was the author of 17 books[6] among them one, Ferhenge, the Kurdish-Azerbaijani dictionary, was published in 1999 by the support of the Soros Foundation.[4]