Manaf Suleymanov was born in 1912, in the village of Lahich in Azerbaijan.
As well as for his academic contributions Manaf Suleymanov is well known in Azerbaijan for his literary work.
Mr. Suleymanov also translated from English to Azerbaijani literary works by Jack London, Somerset Maugham, O. Henry, John Steinbeck, Peter Abrahams and many others.
His renowned book What I Heard, What I Saw, What I Read (Past Days in Russian) remains one of the best accounts of the history of Baku at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
He studied and published biographical articles on many Azerbaijani industrial magnates, oil tycoons and philanthropists such as Zeynalabdin Taghiyev.