Banine (Baku, 1905-Paris, 1992) was the pseudonym of the writer Umm El-Banu Äsâdullayeva. Educated in a privileged family in Azerbaijan - then part of the Russian Empire - she was forced to flee her country after the triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution. In Paris, while working as a translator, journalist and haute couture model, she became part of the prominent literary circle that included figures such as Nikos Kazantzakis, André Malraux and Marina Tsvetáyeva. The Days of the Caucasus, written in French and originally published in 1945, is undoubtedly her masterpiece.