Today 64 years pass from the death of the founder of first independent Azerbaijani government Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Mammad Amin Rasulzade.
Mammad Amin Rasulzade, a person who helped to set up first independent government of Azerbaijan, was born in 1884, Baku. In his years of study, he founded "Muslim Youth Organisation Musavat", the first secret organisation in Azerbaijan's contemporary history. He was a civilian who destined to change the history of Azerbaijan.
From 1903 Rasulzade began penning articles in numerous opposition newspapers and magazines. In 1904 he established the first Muslim social-democrat organisation "Hummet" and became editor-in-chief of its newspapers, Takamul (1906–1907) and Yoldash (1907).
In 1913, he joined and later headed the Musavat Party. He began to publish the party's newspaper "Açıq Söz" which lasted till 1918. When the February Revolution happened, Musavat together with additional secret political parties in Russian Empire immediately legalized and became a principal party of Caucasian Muslims after it merged with Party of Turkic Federalists directed by Nasib Yusifbeyli.
October revolution in 1917 lead to the secession of Transcaucasia from Russia and Rasulzade became head of Muslim faction in the Seym, the parliament of Transcaucasian Federation. After the dissolution of the Transcaucasian Federation Muslim faction re-organized into Azerbaijani National Council, whose leader Rasulzade was unanimously elected in May 1918.
Rasulzade established the first Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. Rasulzade also launched together with the minister of education, Rashid Khan Gaplanov and with the funding of oil baron Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev the establishment of Baku State University, in 1919. He also taught Ottoman literature at the University. Even after this short period, Rasulzadeh was not only remained as a Founder of ADR, he was also a leader who enlightened and gave them a voice of reason to the public.
After the collapse of the republic, the misery of Rasulzade and his family started. His mother, Maral who knew Stalin from his early years, exiled and died from hunger. His wife died with the disturbing thoughts of the fate of his son. Even the fact that Rasulzadeh remarried, his first wife Ümbülbanu never left his side till the end of her life. His first daughter Latifa, who never saw her father after ag of 8, could not resist the cold weather and torture in remote Kazakhstan. On the cold January night of 1944, she died with his daughter, Evşen. She saw one of her daughters, 13-year-old Firuza, wound up in the morning and saw her lovely mother and sister die.
Still, does Muhammad Amin knew all these tragedies? Of course, he was. But at that point, he was struggling for a family called Azerbaijan. Only in his family was Azeris when he died three times in his last breath in 1955, saying, "Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan!" But even when this family was dispersed, he directed to build ideas for Azerbaijan. Perhaps we are the heirs of an ideology that is the product of the catastrophic family tragedy today. He inherited to us not only the idea of a democratic republic but also the idea; "The flag once raised will never fall!"
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