Ali bey Huseynzade | |
|---|---|
Əli bəy Hüseynzadə | |
 Huseynzade in 1933 | |
| Presiding member of theCommittee of Union and Progress | |
| In office 1910–? | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1864-03-07)March 7, 1864 |
| Died | March 17, 1940(1940-03-17) (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Azerbaijani |
| Occupation | Writer, philosopher, publicist, artist and doctor |
Ali bey Huseyn oghlu Huseynzade (Azerbaijani:Əli bəy Hüseyn oğlu Hüseynzadə;Turkish:Hüseyinzade Ali Turan;Salyan, March 7, 1864 –Istanbul, March 17, 1940) was anAzerbaijani writer, thinker, philosopher, artist, doctor, and the creator of the modernFlag of Azerbaijan.[1]
Ali bey Huseynzade was born in 1864 to a family of Muslim religious clerics inSalyan, in the present-dayAzerbaijan. His grandfatherMahammadali Huseinzadeh was theSheikh ul-Islam (Supreme religious leader) of theCaucasus for 32 years. His father, Molla Huseyin Huseynzade, was well-educated. After his mother Hatice's death, Ali Bey and his brother, Ismail Bey, moved with their father toTbilisi. In Tbilisi, Molla Huseyin worked as a mathematics teacher at Muslim schools, and Ali bey Huseynzade continued his education there. Following his father's death, he came under the care of his grandfather, who supported his education.[2]Mahammadali Huseinzadeh, dramatistMirza Fatali Akhundov,Akinchi newspaper publisherHasan bey Zardabi, and poetSeyid Azim Shirvani with whom he had close relationships, had an influence on Ali Bey's intellectual development. Following the advice and support ofMirza Fatali Akhundov, he sent Ali Bey to continue his education at the Tbilisi Gymnasium in 1875. Ali Bey studied there for ten years (1875-1885), learning Russian, Latin, Greek, French, and German at an advanced level.[3]
In 1885, he entered the Physics and Math Department atSaint Petersburg University. Upon graduation from there in 1889, Huseynzade moved to Istanbul, where he entered the Medical faculty ofIstanbul University (IU).[4] His poemTuran, composed during his time as a student, became the first poetic expression advocating for a unity of Turks based on ethnic identity.[5] After graduation from IU, he served as a military doctor in theOttoman Army, and subsequently as an assistant professor at IU. Huseynzade was one of the founders of theCommittee of Union and Progress.[6]Ziya Gökalp, was influenced by hisPan-Turkist ideology,[4] and referred to Huseynzade as one of his most important teachers.
Huseynzade’s time inIstanbul spanned several decades, with his first stay in theOttoman capital lasting from 1889 to 1903. During this period, he maintained his Russian subjecthood but acquiredOttoman subjecthood shortly after his arrival. Over the course of his fourteen years inIstanbul, he formed friendships with key figures of theCommittee of Union and Progress (CUP) such asAbdullah Cevdet,Ibrahim Temo. These connections made in the 1890s would later benefit him in his political and intellectual endeavors. In 1903, Huseynzade returned toRussia, reportedly due to police harassment stemming from hisCUP affiliations.[7]
In 1903, Ali bey returned home and spent the next seven years inBaku. During this period of time, he engaged in scholarly and publishing activities, edited theHayat newspaper, and served as a chief editor of theKaspiy newspaper. Huseynzade coeditedHayat withAhmet Aghaoglu until 1906, when Aghaoglu left to work forİrşad.[8] In 1905, he joinedAlimardan bey Topchubashov, Reşit Ibragimov, Farrukh bey Vezirov andAhmet Aghaoglu as a part of the Azerbaijani delegation to an all-Russian convention of Muslims, where an agreement was reached on establishing of theIttifaq al Muslimin a single Muslim party inRussian Empire.[9] In 1906, Huseynzade started publishing the magazineFüyuzat [az] (Fusion), financed by the famous philanthropistHaji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, and harshly criticized theTsarist government in his writings.
Füyuzat was a journal influenced by theOttomanServet-i Funun and served as a platform for advocating modernization in Azerbaijani culture. In its pages, the sloganTurkify, Islamize, Europeanize(Türkləşmək, İslamlaşmak, Avropalaşmaq) was openly promoted, a phrase later popularized byZiya Gokalp, which became central to the development of Turkism in theOttoman Empire.[10] Huseynzade urged Muslim Turks to "embrace the Turkish lifestyle, practice their faith in accordance with Islam, and adopt the modern European way of life" with this slogan.[11] Ali Bey Huseynzade was also the director of the Saadet school.[12]
After the March 31 incident of 1909, whenAbdul Hamid II was exiled toSalonica, Huseynzade was invited to Istanbul by his friends in theCUP. Prior to his departure fromRussia in December 1910, Huseynzade visited his hometown ofSalyan for a week to say farewell to his family and neighbors.[13] Huseynzade arrived in theOttoman capital in 1910, where he began working as an instructor at the Ottoman Medical College. In addition to his work as a doctor and teacher, he also became involved in various intellectual and literary projects organized by figures likeAkchura andAghaoglu. During the Unionist era, Huseynzade contributed articles toTürk Yurdu and otherOttoman newspapers and journals. He also participated, alongsideAkchura andAghaoglu, in activities on behalf of theOttoman government during wartime.[13] And in 1911 he was elected a presiding member of theCommittee of Union and Progress.[14] From 1915 to 1916 he travelled to several European capitals to reach out for support for the Pan-Turkish movement.[15]
In 1916, Huseynzade andAghaoglu, who were active in the Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Muslim Turco-Tatars inRussia, signed memoranda and appeals calling on the Central Powers to defend the rights of Russian Muslims during the peace treaty negotiations.[16] The Turkish thinkerHilmi Ziya Ulken, who personally knew Huseynzade, wrote the following while describing Ali Bey Huseynzade’s activities during this period:
Between 1910 and 1918, he was one of the most devoted members of the Committee of Union and Progress. At the Türk Ocağı, he regularly gathered young people through conversations and exhortations, taking the lead in nationalist movements alongside Gokalp. However, he was neither as productive as Gokalp in adapting his ideas to the course of events nor as sharp-witted as Akchura. Due to his reserved nature and unpretentiousness, his influence was not on the masses but on thinkers.[17]
In 1913, he was a member of the Caucasian Turks Education Society in Istanbul, in 1916, he served on the High Health Council, and he was also a member of the General Center of the Turkish Hungarian Friendship Society. AlongsideAkil Muhtar and Nesim Muslih, he was sent to theInternational Socialist Congress inStockholm, held in 1917.[17] In 1918, he returned toAzerbaijan to participate in the formation ofAzerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) and participated in negotiations for theOttoman support of theADR against theBaku Commune. Towards the end of 1918,Aghaoglu set out for Paris with the hope of representing Azerbaijan at theParis Peace Conference. However, while passing throughIstanbul, he was arrested by the British. Following his arrest, Huseynzade, who was captured inIstanbul in 1919, was also exiled toMalta.[18] After the fall ofADR in April 1920, Huseynzade permanently settled inTurkey and became a citizen, receiving the surname, Turan.[19]
Huseynzade participated in theFirst All-Union Turkological Congress held inBaku in 1926, leaving behind notes related to this congress.[17] On the day the congress began, Ali Bey was elected not only to the executive committee but also to the honorary executive committee, alongsideVilhelm Ludwig Thomsen,Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr, andAnatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky.[20]
Ali bey Huseynzade's public career came to an end after he was suspected of being involved in a conspiracy to assassinateMustafa Kemal in 1926. Although he was found innocent, his political career was effectively over. In 1933, he retired from his position atIstanbul University. Huseynzade continued to write his memoirs about the early Republican heroes. In 1940, while having a conversation with a doctor friend about Britain's policy inIndia, he suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 76.[21]
One of the streets in theYasamal district ofBaku is named after Ali bey Huseynzade and there's a statue of him in the center of his hometown.[citation needed]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
