The Iraqi Kurdish historian Kamal Mazhar Ahmad (1937-2021) was probably one of the best known and most productive historians. He belonged to the first generation of Iraqis to pursue postgraduate studies in the Soviet Union, and when he was allowed to return to Iraq in 1970, he played a crucial role in the institutionalization of academic institutions and disciplines there and acted as an intermediary between Iraqi Kurdish and Soviet academic circles. As a lecturer and later professor at Baghdad University, he trained thousands of (Arab and Kurdish) students.