Qarabag.com has prepared a material about the Azerbaijani writer, politician, publicist, playwright, teacher, historian, translator, artist Yusif Vazirov Chamanzaminli.
Yusif Vazir (Vezirov) Chamanzaminli was born on September 12, 1887 in Shusha in a noble family. He took the pseudonym “Chamanzaminli” as a sign of respect to the poor family who came from the village of Chemenli in Southern Azerbaijan and found shelter at his father’s house. Vazirov received his primary education at the Russian-Azerbaijani Nikolaev’s School of Shusha. In 1905-1907, he studied at the Realni High School in Baku. In 1910, Yusif Vazir entered the Faculty of Law of the Imperial University of St. Vladimir (now Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv). After graduating from the university in 1915, Yusif Vazir began working in the judicial chamber and on the city council of Saratov (now Saratov, Russia).
[Old Shusha Ch. Qajar. 2007, pp. 271-272]
[Shusha. F. Shushinsky.1968, p. 95]
[A trip to paradise by Yu.V. Chamanzaminli. 1962, pp. 3-4]
[Novels. Yu.V. Chamanzaminli.1959, p. 172]
Chamanzaminli was the first diplomatic representative (November 1, 1918 – May 18, 1919) of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in Ukraine. At the same time, he was a representative in the Crimea and Poland. From August 1, 1919 until the fall of the ADR (April 1920), Yusif Vazir held the post of diplomatic representative of the ADR in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). After the establishment of Soviet power in Azerbaijan in 1920, Yusif Vazir announced the termination of his activities and moved to his younger brother in Paris.
[The Documents from personal archives: A.M. Topchibashi”:1903-1934, 2012, p. 181]
[Old Shusha Ch.Qajar. 2007, p. 272]
[The newspaper “Azerbaijan”. 1918. November 3, 1918, p. 1 No. 25]
[The History of Diplomacy of the Republic of Azerbaijan: In 3 vols. Vol. I: Foreign Policy of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920) / J.P.Hasanli. 2010, p. 284]
[Mühacirlərin dönüşü. D.Əhməd. 2017., p. 55]
[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920) Legislative Acts”(Collection of documents) 1998// “Resolution on sending a diplomatic mission to Istanbul and establishing a diplomatic mission of Azerbaijan in Iran. No. 566., p. 618]
During the years of emigration (1920-1926), Yusif Vazir’s relations with the Musavatists deteriorated for a number of reasons. The Musavatists transferred his powers as ambassador to Constantinople to Khalil bey Khasmamedov and later refused from financial assistance (or could not provide it) to his brother, who was terminally ill. An article with negative contents entitled “Dishonorable End” was published in the Musavat press. In 1925, to explain his experiences and respond to the Musavatist accusations, Yusif Vazir sent a letter entitled “Letter to a Musavatist” to the editorial office of the newspaper “Communist” (the organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan).
In 1926, Yusif Vazir was allowed to return to Azerbaijan.
[Mühacirlərin dönüşü. D.Əhməd. 2017. pp. 60-61]
[Documents from personal archives: A.M.Topchibashi”: 1903-1934, 2012, p. 181]
[A trip to paradise. Yu.V. Chamanzaminli. 1962, p. 5]
In 1934, he was elected a member of the Writers’ Union of Azerbaijan.
[Victims of Stalinist repressions in Azerbaijan. F.Djahannuri (Hashimova) 2010, p. 225]
In 1939, Yusif Vazir was arrested as an anti-Soviet person and was exiled to the Gorky region (now Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia). Until his death in exile, Yusif Vazir continued to create, but these writings have not survived to our days. Chamanzaminli died on January 3, 1943.
After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1956, the process of rehabilitation of victims of political repression began. In the same year, Yusif Vazir was posthumously acquitted.
[Victims of Stalinist repressions in Azerbaijan. F.Djhahannuri (Hashimova) 2010, p. 225]
[Old Shusha. Ch. Kajar. 2007, p. 272]
Literary works
Yusif Vazir published his first novels in 1909 in the newspaper “Səda” (Voice), where his uncle Gashim-bek Vazirov, who was a journalist and writer, worked. He also published his cartoons in the satirical magazine “Molla Nasreddin” which had been published since 1906.
[Old Shusha. Ch. Kajar. 2007, pp. 271-272]
[Shusha. F. Shushinsky.1968, p. 95]
[A trip to paradise. Yu.V. Chamanzaminlii.1962, p. 3]
As a student, Chamanzaminli joined the “Society of Muslim Students of Kiev” and published a report on women’s rights in Europe and the East – “The status of our women”.
[A ticket to paradise. Yu.V. Chamanzaminli. 1962, p. 4]
In the 1930s, he wrote the novels “Maiden spring”, “Students”, “In 1917” and the comedies “Telli”, “His Highness goes to Paris” (“Hazrati-Shakhriyar”).
[In Blood. Yu.V. Chamanzaminli. 1985, pp. 5-6]
[Newspaper “Baku Worker” No.220 (21046) 22.09.1987., p. 3]
Chamanzaminli translated the works of Russian writers L. Tolstoy, N. Gogol, I. Turgenev into Azerbaijani.
[Newspaper “Baku Worker” No.220 (21046) 22.09.1987., p. 3]
Chamanzaminli’s novel “Between Two Fires” (1936-1937) follows the life and state activity of Azerbaijani poet and vizier (the minister of foreign affairs) of the Karabakh khanate Molla Panah Vagif. It was published only after the writer’s death in the Azerbaijan magazine in 1960-1961 under the title “In Blood”. In his memoirs “Twenty years of my Life”, “The Notebook of a young man”, Yusif Vazir described the life and way of life of Shusha and its residents in the late XIX and early XX centuries.
[In Blood. Yu.V. Chamanzaminli. 1985, p. 443]
[History of Azerbaijani Literature (A Brief Overview). 1971, p.134]
[Old Shusha. Ch. Kajar. 2007, p. 272]
