Famous writer, playwright, poet and philosopher Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh
Mirza Fatali Akhundzade, writer-playwright, philosopher, public figure, founder of Azerbaijani dramaturgy, was born in 1812 in Sheki.
His father Mirza Mammad Tagi and mother Nane khanum moved to Hamna settlement near Tabriz in 1814, from where he and his mother returned to Sheki in 1825.
Fatali's maternal uncle, Akhund Haji Alesker, who wanted him to become a clergyman, brought him to Ganja in 1832 and arranged him in a madrasa near the mosque of Shah Abbas. Here M.F.Akhundzade took lessons of logic and jurisprudence from Mollah Huseyn Pishnamaz-zade, and also learnt calligraphy from famous Azerbaijani poet M.Sh.Vazekh. A close friendship soon developed between Mirza Shafi and his pupil. This friendship had a serious influence on Mirza Fatali's life and work and on his formation as a thinker in general.
Interested in modern sciences of his time, Fatali in 1833 entered the Russian school opened in Sheki and studied there for a year.
In 1834 he travelled to Tbilisi, where he was appointed as an interpreter of Oriental languages in the civil affairs department of the office of the governor of the Caucasus and worked in this position until the end of his life. He advanced rapidly in the civil service; in 1842 he was promoted to warrant officer, in 1846 to adjutant, in 1850 to lieutenant, in 1852 to staff-captain, in 1854 to lieutenant-colonel, in 1873 to colonel, and was awarded orders and medals of Russia, Iran and Turkey.
Mirza Fatali found himself in the significant and beautiful literary and cultural environment of Tbilisi. In the 1930s and 1940s, he became closely acquainted with prominent Azerbaijani writers A. Bakikhanov, I. Gutgashinli, M. Sh. Vazekh and G. Zakir, the founder of Georgian dramaturgy Giorgi Eristavi, the Dekabrist writer A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, who was in exile in the Caucasus, the Polish revolutionary Tadeush Lada Zablockiy. In the 1950s-1960s he became close acquainted with the famous Russian poet Polonsky, prominent Russian orientalists Khanikov, A. Berger and other intellectuals, and mutual friendships were established between them. These acquaintances and connections also had a strong influence on the formation of world outlook, on the range of interests and knowledge, literary and scientific activity of M.F. Akhundzade.
M.F. Akhundzade worked as a teacher of Azerbaijani language in the Russian district school in Tiflis in 1836-1840.
In 1842 Mirza Fatali married Akhund Haji Alesker's daughter Tuba Khanum. Although he had a beautiful family, his family life did not work out. Of his thirteen children, only two - son Rashid and daughter Nisa - lived long lives, the rest died in childhood and youth. M.F.Akhundzade paid special attention to the education of his children. His son Rashid graduated from the classical gymnasium in Tbilisi, then continued his studies at the Belgian University and got a speciality of road engineer. He was personally engaged in education of his daughter, taught her Persian and Russian languages and brought her up in a completely modern spirit.
In 1850-1855 Akhundzade wrote one after another six original comedies characterized by high ideological and artistic features, thus laying the foundation of dramaturgy not only in Azerbaijan but also in the whole Middle East. In 1857 he wrote the famous story “The Deceived Stars”.
M.F.Akhundzade actively cooperated with the newspaper “Caucasus”, where he published his comedies, a poem “Letter to Zakir” written during the Crimean War, a historical article “The situation of the Turkish army near Baghdad”, the story “The Deceived Stars” and several translations.
In March 1851 Mirza Fatali was elected a member of the Caucasian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and became one of the main compilers and translators of the collections “Acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeological Commission” prepared under the supervision of the eminent orientalist Adolf Berge. In 1853 he published his comedies in Russian, and in 1859 his comedies and the story “The Deceived Stars” with a preface entitled “Fehristi-kitab” were published in a separate book under the title “Tamsilat” in the publishing house of the Caucasian Viceroyalty.
In 1857 M.F.Akhundzade compiled a new alphabet on the basis of the Arabic alphabet, sent the draft of this alphabet to famous linguists, orientalists of his time, as well as to the heads of states of Iran and Turkey and began to actively fight for the reform of the alphabet. In 1863, he travelled to Istanbul and presented the draft alphabet to the Turkish Prime Minister Fuad Pasha. On behalf of the Prime Minister, the project was discussed at the Ottoman Scientific Society, but was not accepted.
Having returned to his homeland in 1863, Mirza Fatali started writing a literary and philosophical work “Letters of Kemal-oud-Dovle”, which he completed in 1865.
Azerbaijani theatre was created on the basis of immortal comedies of Akhundzade. In 1873 Gasan bey Zardabi together with Najaf bey Vezirov staged the famous play “Haji Qara” in one of Baku schools, thus initiating the theatre movement in Azerbaijan and the Turkic-Muslim world in general.
At the end of 1877 Mirza Fatali Akhundzade fell ill and died of heart failure on 27 February 1878 (10 March according to the new calendar).
According to his will, he was buried in the Muslim cemetery in Tbilisi, next to the grave of his former teacher and friend M.S. Vazeh.
Recommended literature:
- Axundzadə, Mirzə Fətəli. Əsərləri : 3 cilddə / M. F. Axundzadə. I cild / tərt. N. Məmmədov. - Bakı : Şərq-Qərb, 2005. - 296 s.
- Axundzadə, Mirzə Fətəli. Bədii və ədəbi-tənqidi əsərləri / M. F. Axundzadə ; tərt., red. N. Məmmədov. - Bakı : Çaşıoğlu, 2004. - 280 s.
- Azərbaycan nəsri antologiyası : 5 cilddə / tərt. Z. Ş. Əsgərli ; bur. məsul Ə. Güləliyev. I cild : XIX əsr / A. A. Bakıxanov [et al.]. - Bakı : Şərq-Qərb, 2006. - 312 s.
- Əlimirzəyev, Xalid Əlimirzə oğlu. M.F. Axundovun ideal və sənət dünyası : monoqrafiya / X. Ə. Əlimirzəyev. - Bakı : Nurlan, 2007. - 228 s.
- Рафили, Микаил Гасан оглы. Мирза Фатали Ахундов = Mirzə Fətəli Axundov / М. Г. Рафили ; ред. Д. Джафаров. - Баку : Азернешр, 1939. - 338 с.
- Djafarov, Djafar. Mirza Fatali Akhoundov / D. Djafarov ; trad. M. Chirvanzadé ; réd. M. Kouliéva. - Bakou : Édit. d'état de l'Azerbaïdjan, 1962. - 30 p.