AN ACTRESS WHO DIDN'T TREAT COMEDY AS A JOKE

She could have talked for hours about the most memorable moments of her life. And in her heart she could still recollect those years she was not destined to live. She heard about them from her mother Husniyya xanim. Sometimes she tried to even imagine those years in her mind's eye.

…The cast had begun rehearsals for a new play. The premier would be held in a few days' time. The rehearsals were being held not in the theatre but in the home of Karbalai Cahangir Zeynalov. Born and bred in Baku, where he was given a primary education, and where he eventually learnt Russian and Persian, Karbalai Cahangir, like his father Masadi Rza, was a celebrated merchant. Along with this everyone knows his huge love for the theatre. He always supported actors, paid their wages and tried to keep the company together. In his country house he set aside a large hall for rehearsals and even built a stage. Lots of people rehearsed there and people like Haciaga Abbasov, Mirzaaga Aliyev, Mahammad bay Alvandi, Huseyn Arablinskiy, Mirmahmud Ka-zimovskiy, Soltanmacid Qanizada, Habib bay Mahmudbayov and Badal bay Badalbayli prepared for plays here. The generous and sociable Karbalai Jahangir never sent the cast away hungry after their rehearsals. Discussions about art would go on even after they had eaten their meal.

That is not the whole story of his love for the theatre. Cahangir Zeynalov was an actor himself. He first took to the stage in the part of a girl in 1885. At the end of the 19th century he and Nacafqulu Valiyev put on shows, In the 1900s he played a big part in setting up the Corporation of Muslim Drama Theatres. He taught in the "Safa" school, reputed to be one of the most advanced centres of science in Baku.

Little Nasiba

…It was into this environment that Nasiba Zeynalova was born on 20 April 1916. Jahangir was childless for many years. People once used to ask him: "You have no children, no one to pass on your wealth and your name and continue your line. Who will be your heir?" He replied that he had an heir: "Our stage is the most devoted child that can take over from me."

When his daughter was born Karbalai Cahangir was already over 60 years of age. Little Nasiba brought him great joy and hope. In the future this girl would be able to help the Azerbaijani theatre which faced the problem of a shortage of actresses.

When in March 1918 the Armenian dashnaks committed the massacre of Azerbaijanis in Baku, Karbalai Cahangir fled with his family to Iran. Returning to Baku in September he was struck down with typhoid fever on the ship. During those difficult days he instructed his wife to "Enlarge one of my photographs and hang it in Nasiba's room. If she is unable to grow up with a living father, at least let her have his picture. You must make sure she has an education. My second request is to continue to pay the school the 300 gold pieces a year which we allocated. Some day these orphans will bring happiness to our people. And one more thing: I have arranged with the certifying officer for an amount to be paid to each of you. The rest I leave to the Azerbaijani theatre."

The incurable illness soon took Karbalai Cahangir from his loved ones. The wealth, property, shops and dacha which remained were taken away and little Nasiba and her mother were thrown onto the street. They took refuge with relatives, rented rooms and lived in poverty.

Husniyya xanim decided to create a new family, hoping that their life would now settle down. But she was wrong. Her second husband was always drunk. It got to the point where he started selling everything that had any value which Karbalai Jahangir had left. And one day he left, taking with him everything that was left, abandoning his wife and two children.

A stolen childhood

Husniyya xanim's difficult life undermined her health. She was often sick and all the cares of the family lay on the shoulders of 14-year old Nasiba. She had to leave school and look for a job. Deep into the night, with the aid of a lamp, she would make hundreds of silkworm bags, fighting the pain and itchiness in her split fingers and being paid a pittance. Later she worked as a clerical assistant at the "Azsanat" association, a time-keeper at a tram depot and a labourer in a wholesale store.

The turning point in her life was a chance meeting in the street with Samsi Badalbayli. Shortly before this Nasiba xanim was made redundant at the "Bakvodkanalizatsiya" administration. At the time Samsi Baladbayli was the director of a company in the philharmonic. When he said "Come to the philharmonic tomorrow", Nasiba xanim wondered: "But what can I do there?"

…And on the way home, and when dressed in a flowery blouse, long skirt and a large headscarf with two saucers in her hand she danced at home in front of the broken mirror of the cabinet to the tune "Nalbaki", Samsi Badalbayli's words came back again: "Come, let's think up something. I think you have great potential. Anyway, Karbalai Cahangir's daughter must surely sing and dance. You must come!"

Sensing that someone was looking at her, she turned round. It was her mother. Leaning against the door, she watched her daughter sadly. "They are calling me to the philharmonic". I thought mother would be pleased. She began to remonstrate. "As if we haven't had enough already." She tried hard to reason with her and assure her that "all would be fine".

In 1936, with Samsi Badalbayli's help, she got a job in the philharmonic's dance ensemble. But before the Ten Days of Art in Moscow Nasiba was fired. Qamar Almaszada, the head of the dance group, thought she was unsuitable because of her "lack of stage presence".

In 1937 she became an actress at the itinerant Theatre of the Collective and State Farm, which was operating in Baku. The theatre recruited a company in Baku, arranged a repertoire and put on plays at the height of the agricultural season - from April to October. She worked at this theatre for a whole year. By that time she had made the most important decision of her life - never to leave the stage. She had to study. But with an incomplete seven-year education she was not accepted into the theatrical training college.

How to become an actress?

Finally, in 1938, Nasiba joined the Baku Theatrical School where she started to learn about acting from Aleksandr Tuganov. Whilst studying at this school she played the part of Catherine in "The Taming of the Shrew", Elvira in "Don Juan" and Elizabeth in "Mary Stuart".

On Ismat Rustambayov's suggestion she was taken on by an auxiliary company of the State Musical Comedy Theatre as an extra in crowd scenes. And very soon Nasiba's talents attracted the attention of directors. Inspired by receiving her first wage - 400 roubles - she joyfully took it to her mother…

Her partners were Lutvali Abdullayev, Ahmad Anatolu, Minavvar Kalantarli, Ibrahim Sunasi and Dadas Sarapli. Appearing alongside them, as well as other actors, Nasiba improved her skills every day. The theatre was closed in 1949 and she was unemployed for quite some time. Then she got a job as a cashier in the summer hall of the "Nizami" cinema. At the end of the summer season she was laid off again. And again she was without a job… 

In those days old friends sometimes gathered at the tea table, shared problems and just chatted. It was then that she encountered the evil of slander. A neighbour who had long set eyes on her apartment complained to the police that his neighbour was having "wild parties" and "preventing working people from resting". The punishment could have been severe. Samsi Badalbayli was not the only one who asked for help. The great singer Bulbul rescued her…

The first attempt to create a family had been unsuccessful. They divorced. She married for a second time. Mutallim was a musician. The 40 years of living with him helped Nasiba xanim to forget the grief of the past. Mutallim became not just her life's partner, but also a close friend and soul-mate. The worthy successor of the creative traditions of this family was their only son whom she named Jahangir in honour of her father…

Jahangir Zeynalov once told his pupils: "Never joke about comedy - it is a serious business." And his daughter Nasiba Zeynalova never "joked" about comedy, either. She never tried to make her audience laugh. She simply became another person on stage. By her creative art and skill Nasiba Zeynalova confirmed the well-known expression "there are no big and small parts, there are only big and small actors". In the play "The Husband and Wife" she was Gulpari, in "Arshin mal alan" she was Cahan xala, in "Masadi Ibad" she was Sanam and in "Qaynana" she was Cannat xala…  Her acting in the theatre and appearances in comedy shows on the stage and on television brought her fame. At the same time bit parts and supporting roles in the films "Step Mother" ("Ogey ana"), "The Great Pillar" ("Boyuk Dayag"), "Our Cabis muallim" ("Bizim Cabis muallim"), "In the name of the law" ("Qanun Namina"), "The kidnapping of the groom" ("Bayin ogurlanmasi") and many others were loved and remembered by her audiences no less than her leading roles…

All honorary distinctions have been conferred upon her, albeit a little late. But long before her services were officially recognized Nasiba xanim had already won the most important award in her life - the love and delight of her people, her everlasting memory.

Nasiba xanim's life has been one of hard work. She was not even aware how she managed to live it. Only age and illness forced her to leave the stage. She left the theatre after the death of her life's partner Mutallim. Nasiba xanim lived her latter years missing the theatre very much. What was more, her legs started to give up and she found it hard to walk. But she so wanted to return to the stage, where she had spent 65 years of her life, and to play not just comedy parts, but tragic roles, too, which for some reason directors never offered her…

Nasiba Zeynalova died seven years after she left the stage - on 10 March 2004.

"Enlarge one of my photographs and hang it in Nasiba's room. If she is unable to grow up with a living father, at least let her have his picture. You must make sure she has an education. My second request is to continue to pay the school the 300 gold pieces a year which we allocated. Some day these orphans will bring happiness to our people. And one more thing: I have arranged with the certifying officer for an amount to be paid to each of you. The rest I leave to the Azerbaijani theatre"

From Jahangir Zeynalov's pledge to his wife