Prominent Azerbaijani oil engineer Suleyman Vezirov
Suleyman Azad oghlu Vazirov, Hero of Socialist Labor, statesman, and engineer who played a crucial role in the development of Azerbaijan's oil industry, was born on November 18, 1910, in Baku. His father, Azadbey Vazirov, received military education in St. Petersburg and served as a colonel on special assignments. His mother, Zahra Khanum, was the daughter of Karimbey Mehmandarov, a renowned doctor of his time. Suleyman Vazirov received his primary education at the Baku Real School. He was admitted to the Baku Industrial Technical School while also working as a cinematographic technician. In 1928, he entered the mining faculty of the Azerbaijan Polytechnic Institute. He graduated from the Baku Polytechnic Institute in 1932. He began to develop himself as a highly specialized engineer by working on oil and gas fields such as Pirallahi, Lokbatan, and Garachukhur. Suleyman Vazirov completed all the stages of his specialty, progressing from engineer to senior engineer and then to chief engineer of the trust, thereby becoming a complete specialist.
In 1940, Vazirov was promoted to chief engineer at Azneftkombinat and, in 1945, was appointed head of the Azneft Association. In 1946, when Suleyman Vazirov was appointed head of the "Main Directorate for Oil Production in the Southern and Western Regions of the Country" with the approval of the USSR Council of Ministers, half of the USSR's oil fields—those in Grozny, Kuban, and Ukraine—fell within his sphere of responsibility. It was this part of the USSR's oil industry that was destroyed during the war. Under Suleyman Vazirov's leadership and direct involvement, the mines here were restored one after another in a very short time, and the development of the deposits resumed.
In March 1949, according to an order personally signed by Stalin, Suleyman Vazirov was appointed head of the "Turkmenneft" association. While working here, he observed that the Gumdag area was located among dunes, so there was no infrastructure or roads. In a short period, Suleyman Vazirov managed to build a road from Nebitdag to Gumdag, provide water and electricity, and create a residential area for workers. During his work here, he also succeeded in securing the release of Azerbaijani oil workers-political prisoners who were held in Nebitdag under the label of "enemy of the people," citing the lack of qualified personnel, despite all the dangers.
Under the leadership of Suleyman Vazirov, who was appointed Minister of Oil Industry of the republic in 1954, significant progress was made in Azerbaijan in areas such as deep drilling technology, the development of the contour water injection method, offshore oil production technology, and increasing the oil recovery coefficient of the layers. S. Vazirov, appointed Chairman of the Council of National Economy of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1959 and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1965, served as Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1970 until the end of his life.
Suleyman Vazirov made significant contributions to the development of the Azerbaijani oil industry and supplied oil to the front lines during the war years, earning high recognition from the state. For his services to the Motherland, he was awarded the Order of Lenin four times, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor six times, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, and the State Prize. Suleyman Vazirov also achieved notable work internationally by making important contributions to scientific and technical innovations, as well as the history of the oil industry, gaining the admiration of his people. Suleyman Azad oghlu Vazirov was repeatedly elected as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR. Nadezhda Ismayilova wrote a book about him titled "Suleyman Vazirov Against the Background of the Century," and a documentary film was made in his honor. A pipe-laying vessel used in underwater laying of oil and gas pipelines, as well as a street in Baku, is named after "Suleyman Vazirov."
Suleyman Vazirov passed away in Baku in 1973.
Recommended literature:
- İsmaylova, Nadejda Vasilyevna. Süleyman Vəzirov əsrin fonunda: [xatirələr] /N. İsmaylova ; rus dilindən tərc. F. Rzayeva. - Bakı: n. y., 2021. - 157 s.
- Vəzirov, Süleyman Ənvər oğlu. Bakı neft sənayesi: təkamül tarixi, yeni faktlar, rəqəmlər /S. Vəzirov, A. İsayev. - Bakı: Elm, 1998. - 70 s.