A writer, public figure, playwright, actor Suleyman Sani Akhundov was born on October 3 (October 21), 1875 in the city of Shusha in a noble family.
[An essay of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 166]
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 6]
[N. Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov. 1997, p. 204]
He adopted a pseudonym “Sani” (in translation from Arabic means “second”) in deference to his fellow worker and teacher Suleyman Abdulrakhmanov. According to the recollections of the Azerbaijani writer Abdullah Shaig, Akhundov often repeated: “He is the first teacher, and I am the second one!”
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 6]
Having lost his father early, Suleyman was brought up by his mother and uncle, the Azerbaijani enlightener and teacher Safaralibek Velibekov. Akhundov’s childhood years were spent in the village of Seidli, Aghdam district.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov. 1997, p. 204]
In 1884 -1885, at the insistence of his uncle, Akhundov entered the primary school of the Transcaucasian Teachers’ Seminary in Gori (Georgia). In 1891, he transferred to the seminary’s main course.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov. 1997, p. 34]
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 6]
In 1893, the inspector of the Azerbaijani department of the seminary A.O. Chernyayevsky unreasonably suspected Akhundov of stealing money. Shocked by the unfair treatment, Akhundov tried to commit suicide by a gunshot.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov. 1997, p. 56-66;204-205]
After graduating from the Gori seminary in 1894 Akhundov worked for many years as a teacher and director in schools in Baku.
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 165]
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 206;209;211;213]
In 1895, Akhundov acted as an actor in the first production of the play “Ignorance” by Azerbaijani writer, public and political figure Nariman Narimanov in Baku, and in 1896 he played in the drama “The Ruined Nest” staged in Shusha under the direction of Azerbaijani playwright Abdurrahim bey Hagverdiyev.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 72-73;205]
In 1906 Akhundov took part in the first congress of Muslim teachers of the Caucasus, and in 1907 he was elected as one of the chairmen of the second congress of teachers.
[Azerbaijani stories.1961, p. 238]
[N. Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 206-207]
In 1906-1916, Akhundov was a member of the “Nijat” Baku Muslim Educational Society. In 1910, he was first elected to the literary and theatrical commission and then to the administrative board of the Society.
[N. Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 207;209]
In 1899 Suleyman Sani Akhundov wrote his first comedy “The Greedy One”.
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 7]
In 1912-1913, his children’s stories ”Gypsy girl“, ”Nureddin“, ”Abbas and Zeynab“ and ”Ahmed and Maleyka“ were published in the ”School“ magazine under the general title ”Scary Stories”.
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Gypsy girl. 1962, p.5]
In 1918, Akhundov was a member of the Pedagogical Council of the People’s Commissariat of Education of the Baku Council (1917-1918). He was engaged in drawing up school programs and providing schools with equipment.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p.148;209]
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 165-166]
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories. 1958, p.9]
After the establishment of Bolshevik power in Azerbaijan, in 1920, on the initiative of the first chairman of the CPC of the Azerbaijan SSR Nariman Narimanov, Akhundov was included into delegation of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia sent to Karabakh for solving nation-wide problems.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 151-152]
For some time Akhundov participated in the organization of village councils in Karabakh and assisted in the election of delegates from Karabakh and Zangezur to the first peasant congress in Shusha on July 28, 1920.
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 166]
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 212]
In 1920-1921, Akhundov worked as the head of the Department of Public Education of Karabakh. It is owing to him that a teachers’ seminary was opened in Shusha in 1921.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p.152-153;209]
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 166]
In 1921, the “Satyr-Agit” theater (Satirical-agitation Theater) in Baku opened with the production of Suleman Sani Akhundov’s play “Fortune’s wheel”.
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 166]
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 7]
[N. Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 212]
In 1922, Suleyman Sani Akhundov was elected as the first chairman of the Azerbaijani Union of Writers and Poets.
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 166]
In 1923-1927, Akhundov wrote the short stories “Victim of Ignorance”, “Bloody Spring”, “Lamp of Hope”, “Molla Kasum”, “Why?”, “Aunt Sona” and “Mr. Grey’s Dog”. The last story was dedicated to the struggle of the Chinese people against the English.
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Gypsy girl. 1962, p.5]
In 1926, the public figure took part in the First All-Union Congress of Turkologists in Baku.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 212]
In 1932, Akhundov was awarded the title of Hero of Labor for a number of merits in the field of literary and pedagogical activity.
[An essay on the history of Azerbaijani Soviet literature.1963, p. 166]
[Azerbaijani stories.1961, p. 238]
In 1934, Akhundov became a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 214]
In 1939, Suleyman Sani was elected as a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR.
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 7]
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p. 214]
On March 29, 1939, Akhundov died in Baku from a long illness and was buried in the Alley of Honor.
[“Bakinskiy rabochiy” newspaper. 30.03.1939, No.73 (5780) p. 4]
[Suleyman Sani Akhundov. Scary Stories.1958, p. 7]
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p.203;214]
In 1975, in connection with the 100th anniversary of Suleyman Sani Akhundov, a monument was erected in his honor in the village of Seidli, Aghdam district, in front of the house where he lived.
[N.Velikhanov. Scientific biography of Suleyman Sani Akhundov.1997., p.203]
After the occupation of Aghdam by the Armenian armed forces in 1993, the monument and the writer’s house were destroyed.
