THE FIRST SPEAKER OF THE AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT

This year marks 95 years since the establishment of the Azerbaijan Demo-cratic Republic (ADR). One of the prominent members of the political elite of the first democratic republic in the Muslim East was Alimardan bay Topcubasov. Under a decree issued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the 150th anniversary of Alimardan bay will be marked this year.

The noble roots

His great-grandparents got the name "Topcubasi" for having excellent knowledge of artillery and heading cannon detachments ("topcu" - gunner, "bas" - head). This honorable position was entrusted only to aristocrats.

The artillery regiments of Ganca khans were also headed by members of the Topcubasi family. One of them - Alimardan bay Topcubasov, the son of Aliakbar bay, was the personal secretary of the ruler of Ganca, Cavad Khan. Having excellent command of Arabic, Russian and Persian, Alimardan bay taught young people in his madrasa. Cavad Khan's letters to General Tsitsianov, filled with courage and struggle, were also written by Topcubasov on the eve of the last battles for Ganca.

Alimardan bay's son - St Petersburg University professor and a member of the Royal Asiatic Society in London, Mirza Cafar bay, was the founder of Russian oriental studies.

Alimardan bay Topcubasov Jr hails from this brave and noble family. He was born in Tbilisi on 4 May, but his year of birth varies in different sources - 1862, 1863 and 1865.

A certificate issued to him says: "Issued to Alimardan bay Topcubasov due to the fact that he is a legitimate son of Lieutenant Alakbar bay Topcubasov and was born on 4 May 1963 in a Shariah marriage with the daughter of Mahammadhasan bay Vakilov, Sevar khanum, in the Shiite branch of Islam." Certificate No 10638 issued to Alimardan bay by the board of St Petersburg University on 22 December 1887 also notes his date of birth as 4 May 1863. These two documents became the basis for considering 1863 to be Alimardan bay Topcubasov's date of birth.

Alimardan bay got his primary education at the First Tiflis Gymnasium. In 1884, he entered the historical-philological faculty of St Petersburg University, but at the end of the first semester, he moved to the Faculty of Law. At that time, a political movement was rising in tsarist Russia, and Alimardan bay was also involved in student protests. Because of this, he was expelled from the university in 1887, but soon he was reinstated because of his potential and good marks. But they still reminded Alimardan bay of his involvement in riots at the stage of graduation. But he had his way, appealing to the Ministry of Education.

Topcubasov, who distinguished himself in the exams, was awarded a degree as a candidate of legal sciences, while the Research Council of the Faculty of Law of St Petersburg University decided to keep Alimardan bay in the department and prepare him for the post of professor. However, a tsarist decree of 1889 about the university did not allow non-Christian Alimardan bay to apply for this position. As a result, Topcubasov went to Tiflis, where he engaged in advocacy, and taught law at the Tiflis Gymnasium.

Here he met with the eldest daughter of Hasan bay Zardabi, Pari khanum, whom he called his saviour with the face of an angel. Hasan bay Zardabi, despite the difficult financial situation of the family, tried to give good education to his daughter. Because of the lack of schools for girls in Azerbaijan, he sent his daughter to a Russian school in Tbilisi. By the way, Pari was the first Azerbaijani to be educated in this school.

It was here that Alimardan bay paid attention to a beautiful, simple girl and made friends with her. This friendship grew into love then, and with the blessing of Hasan bay and Hanifa khanum the young couple married.

After completing her education at the Tiflis Gymnasium, Pari khanum entered the faculty of law at St Petersburg University. Then she worked in Tbilisi and Baku as a judicial assistant, secretary of the District Court, attorney, etc.

At the request of Hasan bay and Hanifa khanum, Topcubasov's family moved to Baku in 1896. Victory in several high-profile trials here made Alimardan bay famous as a lawyer.

At the same time, the successful lawyer endeavoured to interest his countrymen in education and tried to instill a sense of national pride in them. Alimardan bay was one of three trustees of the Girls' School, which was opened by Haci Zeynalabdin Tagiyev in 1901.

At the same time, Topcubasov engaged in journalism. From 1897, he was one of the editors of Kaspi newspaper and wrote for the first Azerbaijani-language daily Life, which was published in Baku from 1905. In his articles, he criticized the discriminatory policy of tsarist authorities.

During the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, like other representatives of the progressive Azerbaijani intelligentsia, he spoke at meetings and rallies. He was a member and chairman of the Baku Duma. Alimardan bay took an active part in the creation and activities of the charitable and educational society Ittifaqi-Muslumun, wrote policy papers and presided over the 1st-4th congresses of the society in Nizhniy Novgorod and St Petersburg.

Topcubasov also participated in several meetings of the First State Duma of the Russian Empire, which took place from 27 April to 8 July 1906. He was critical of the agrarian and resettlement policy of the government and advocated the granting of autonomy to minority peoples, including Muslims. Under his leadership, a Muslim faction was established in the Duma from deputies of several Muslim regions. But the tsarist government dissolved the Duma after 72 days, as it was taking a revolutionary position. In protest, some 200 members of the Duma on 9-10 July held a meeting in Vyborg, where they adopted an appeal signed by Alimardan bay as well. Despite the harsh measures the tsarist regime took in connection with the "Vyborg appeal", this did not stop Topcubasov. His political activities intensified even more after the February Revolution and the October Coup of 1917.

Alimardan bay represented Azerbaijan at the State Conference convened by the Provisional Government on 12-15 August 1917 in Moscow. He was also elected chairman of the meeting of the Committee of Muslim Public Organizations in Baku. His deputies were Mammad Amin Rasulzada and Fatali khan Xoyski. And in the elections of October-November 1917, Top-cubasov was elected to the Baku City Duma. Alimardan bay also played a great role in ending the mass extermination of Azerbaijanis by Bolshevik-Dashnak gangs on 30 March - 1 April 1918 in Baku.

The establishment of the ADR inspired Alimardan bay Topcubasov. In the government of Fatali khan Xoyski, he was first a "minister without portfolio", but, nevertheless, Topcubasov led negotiations with the Ottoman Empire. Xoyski wrote to Mammad Amin Rasulzada in that period: "With the government's decision of 20 August 1918, a member of the government, Alimardan bay Topcubasov, is being sent to the Ottoman imperial government as a minister with extraordinary powers on all matters of interest to the Azerbaijan Republic."

In October and November 1918, he held talks with the Ottoman Sultan, a number of ministers and diplomats, and handed a note of protest to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the Mondor agreement. "This agreement facilitates the occupation of Azerbaijan and poses a threat to the country," Topcubasov said.

In October, the national government appointed Alimardan bay to the post of foreign minister. In this difficult period for the country, the Azerbaijani parliament started its work on 7 December 1918. Alimardan bay Topcubasov was unanimously elected the first chairman of the parliament. Already on 28 December 1918, the parliament elected Topcubasov head of the Azerbaijani delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. His deputy was Mammadhasan Hacinski.

However, the delegation was unable to get to Paris at once because France did not want to receive countries that had just gained independence from Russia and did not issue visas. As a result, from 20 January to 7 May 1919, the Azerbaijani delegation was in Istanbul, where Topcubasov met with diplomats from different countries.

Once in Paris, the Azerbaijani delegation held intense talks with representatives of Poland, Georgia, the USA, the UK, Iran and other countries during a month and discussed the political and economic situation. On 28 May 1919, the Azerbaijani delegation met with US President Woodrow Wilson, who had promised to help to preserve the freedom and independence of the Azerbaijani people.

The intensive negotiations and efforts led to positive results - on 11 January 1920, Azerbaijan's independence was de facto recognized.

Even the seizure of power in Azerbaijan by Bolsheviks on 28 April 1920 did not stop Topcubasov. At conferences in London and Genoa in 1922 and Lausanne in 1923, he spoke about the occupation of Azerbaijan by the Bolsheviks and their atrocities.

Yet the occupation forced Alimardan bay, like many other intellectuals, to leave the country and live away from it. He took his family to Paris in 1919. His wife Pari khanum helped Topcubasov a lot in his activities and participated in preparing documents.

But being away from the homeland and financial problems complicated the life of Alimardan bay. Everyone asked the former speaker of parliament and plenipotentiary representative of Azerbaijan in Paris for financial assistance - from students who studied in Europe to former statesmen. But Alimardan bay could not fulfill all these requests, which gave rise to various rumours that hurt him a lot. After a long and serious illness, Alimardan bay died on 5 November 1934 in Paris' Saint-Denis district and was buried at St Claude Cemetery. His funeral, along with Azerbaijanis, was attended by immigrants from Turkestan, Georgia, Ukraine and the North Caucasus.

Upon learning of the death of Topcubasov, Mammad Amin Rasulzada wrote: "With his words, pen and boundless desire, he fought for the freedom and the national question of his people to his last breath ... We lost an intelligent representative of the national movement, a prominent statesman and a courageous fighter for national independence ... The day will come when our country will become free and our people will write the name of the first speaker of parliament and a man who tirelessly fought for independence in its memory with eternal gratitude."