POET AND CITIZEN

Such was the questioning of Azerbaijani poet Huseyn Cavid in autumn 1937. That was just the beginning. The so-called investigation and examinations continued two years and the poet was exiled to Magadan as an "enemy of the people" in 1939 (the notorious 58th article). He was charged with allegedly being a member of a counter-revolutionary nationalist organization, anti-Soviet propaganda among writers and even with espionage in favour of a foreign state. There was no evidence - only testimonies obtained from other persons under investigation - and there was no lawyer either. Yet unlike many, despite two years spent under investigation in inhuman conditions, the poet did not plead guilty. There was no normal trial. There was just the notorious "troika" tribunal that decided people's destinies without lawyers within 20 minutes. 

As the result, Huseyn Cavid, with his health undermined, was exiled to Siberia to die a slow and agonizing death. He died there on 5 December 1941 short of his exile term expiry. Only in 1956 was Huseyn Cavid rehabilitated at the request of renowned Azerbaijani poets. As early as 1958, a book of Cavid's selected works was published in Baku. A selection of his plays came light in 1963. Much later, in 1982, the author's centenary was marked in Azerbaijan. It was decided on that occasion to rebury Huseyn Cavid. The poet's remains were moved to Naxcivan where they were consigned to the earth beneath a mulberry tree next to his father's house.  

"The accusations against the poet were certainly far-fetched and the only thing he could really be blamed for was being a true Azerbaijani," our contemporary poet and art critic Lacin Samadzada said in his talk with R+. "His creative style was definitely under Turkish influence but one could hardly see anything blameworthy about it as he had spent a few years in Turkey studying literature and was acquainted with Turkish poets."

Indeed, Huseyn Cavid lived in Turkey in 1905 where he studied at the department of literature of Istanbul University. He was acquainted with well-known Turkish writers and poets. Yet he lived at home from 1909 and spent a long time teaching the Azeri language and history of literature at Azeri schools in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Ganca, Naxcivan until he finally moved to Baku. 

His first poem saw the light in the Baku-based magazine Fiyuzat in 1906. After moving to Baku, Cavid was published much more often and as early as 1913 his first selection of poems "The Past Days" (Kecmis gunlar) was published - it was printed at an Azeri print shop in Tbilisi. In 1917, a new selection - "Spring Dew" - was published in Baku. "Cavid's poems indeed carried a lot of civic attitude and humanism but there were love lyrics too," said Samedzade. "One can recall plenty of well-known lyric poems including ones translated into Russian." 

His dramatic works have also become well known: "Prince" (1929), "Sayavush" (1933), "Xayyam" (Khayyam) (1935), "Sheikh Sanan" (1914), "The Satan" (Iblis) (1917-1918). In 1926, Cavid took two month's health treatment in Germany staying in Berlin. When he returned, he got down to his big and last poem "Azar" [Azer] finished only in 1937. The poem reflected his impressions of his stay in Europe carrying many points of comparison and recognition. 

The poet used to say: "my god is beauty and love". However. As years passed by, severe reality was increasingly penetrating into his poetry in one way or another. The number of his historical, civic and philosophical works was growing: "Sahla", "Daemon's Inspiration", "Atilla", "Cingiz". A remarkable exhibit still can be seen in Huseyn Cavid's memorial house - a dinner table with a secret drawer which fortunately was not found during search. It preserved some of his works not published by that time. "When this work was returned to me, it was like being given the entire world as a gift," the playwright's daughter Turan xanim [mode of address] said on that occasion. In 1970, 35 years later, "Khayyam" was staged at the State Academic Theatre by remarkable director Mehti Mammadov. 

"Many of his works, being of a social and humanistic nature, are imbued with a kind of Cavid's signature style," says art critic Samadzada. "That style consists of three components: first, a considerable influence of the Turkish school; second, historical oriental and again Turkic motifs; and the third component is mysticism". "The abstract poetic cannot do without the mystical; being a representative of oriental culture, it is more than easy to harmoniously insert mystical motifs in his creative work," the art critic says. "In this way, Huseyn Cavid succeeded in becoming a fairly serious and original author of his times and thereby making a great contribution to the culture of his land".