Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli (), also spelled Chemenzeminli, born Yusif Mirbaba oghlu Vazirov (12 September 1887 – 3 January 1943) was an Azerbaijani statesman and writer known for his novels, short stories, essays, and diaries.
Life and career Chamanzaminli was born the second son of seven children to Mirbaba Mirabdulla oghlu Vazirov (died 1906)Biography: The Lives of Two Writers: Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli and Lev Nussimbaum/Essad Bey, in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2–4, p. 40. and Seyid Aziza Seyid Husein gizi (died 1910) in the town of Shusha, which was then part of the Russian Empire. His father was a mugham teacher and a connoisseur of literature, who spoke Persian and Turkish and had travelled considerably throughout the region.
After graduating from the primary school of Blindman Khalifa in 1895, Chamanzaminli pursued his studies at the Realschule of Shusha. But then, the Armenian-Azerbaijani civil war broke out (1905–1906) and his family fled Shusha. As his father had just died, his mother, younger brother and sisters settled in Ashgabad, Turkmenistan, to be closer to relatives. Vazirov managed to get a meagre stipend with a few other students from Shusha to finish his education (1906–1909) at Realni High School in Baku. He published his first work in the local Azeri-language periodicals Sada and Molla Nasraddin.Letter to the Editor of "Molla Nasraddin" periodical, complaining about religious superstition, 1907, Issue No. 37 It was in the summer of 1907 when Yusif Vazirov went to visit his mother in Ashgabad that he met Berta Maiseyeva,Blair, "Who was Nino? Yusif Vazirov's Diary Suggest Identity of Nino: Jewish Girl was Prototype," in AZER.com, Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2–4, pp. 254–261. a third year student at Ashgabad Gymnasium. She seems to be the prototype for the character of "Nino" in the novel "Ali and Nino," eventually published in 1937 in Vienna. Many of the historical references in the novel can be traced back to the period of time when Vazirov was a high school student in Baku, as revealed in his diaries.See "Life Experiences: 101 Reasons, Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli as Core Writer of Ali and Nino, Azerbaijan International, Vol. 15:2–4, pp. 262–283.
In 1909, Chamanzaminli left for St. Petersburg to enroll in St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Construction Institute for Civil Engineers but having realized that he would not pass the placement test in mathematics, since he was weak in math and hated it,Numerous references in Chamanzaminli's diaries allude to the fact that he hated math. Chamanzaminli withdrew his application. While in St. Petersburg, he wrote Jannatin gabzi ("A Passage to Heaven").
In 1910 Chamanzaminli was admitted to the St. Vladimir University in Kiev to study law. When World War I broke out, the students and staff of the university were transferred to Saratov (Volga region of Russia), where Chamanzaminli graduated in 1915. For a while he worked at the judiciary chamber of Saratov and later travelled to Galicia (Eastern Europe). There, reflecting on the February Revolution in Russia, he began Studentlar ("Students") and "In the Year 1917".
In late 1917, he returned to Kiev to establish an Azerbaijani cultural association. In 1918 he was appointed to represent the newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in the Ukrainian People's Republic but there was so much political unrest and turmoil in the region, he was not able to establish an office there. He then moved to Simferopol, Crimea, where he worked for a while as a judiciary advisor.
There he published his research work Lithuanian Tatars dedicated to the history and culture of Lipka Tatars. At the same time, he popularized Azeri culture by publishing related articles, especially about literature,Review by Austrian Friedrich Kraelitz-Greifenhorst about Yusif Vazirov's "Survey of Azerbaijani Literature (Istanbul).” Mitteilungen zur osmanischen Geschichte. 1, 1921/22, (1922), pp. 174–175. in the local newspapers. Then in 1919, he was appointed to open the Azerbaijan Embassy in Constantinople, Turkey. He managed only to set it up only briefly for a few months before the Bolsheviks took control of Baku, leaving him without job, salary, guidance as to what to do—essentially, without a passport and without a country.
Vazirov wrote at least two books that were published while he was in Turkey: (1) "A Survey of Azerbaijani Literature" (1921), and (2) "The History, Geography and Economy of Azerbaijan" (1921). Vazirov then left for France to join his younger brother Mir Abdulla, who was studying at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and from which he graduated in 1925.
In Paris where thousands of émigrés had fled in desperation after the collapse of the Russian Empire, Vazirov was unable to find a job in his field. He tried to get a job driving a taxicab but twice failed the exam. He eventually managed to get a job working in an automobile locomotive factory in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine.Orkhan Vazirov, “About My Father Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli” (Baku: Azerneshr, 1997). He also wrote for a local publication, entitled Les lettres orientales ("Eastern Letters").
Return to Soviet Baku After Miri's quite unexpected death,Mir Vazirov, age 31, died within three months after coming down with tuberculosis, later complicated by an appendicitis attack. Source: Letter from Yusif Vazirov to Mir Jafar Baghirov and Joseph Stalin in Orkhan Vazirov's book, "About My Father Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli" (Baku Azerneshr, 1997), pp. 57–61. In Azeri. Vazirov saw little reason to continue living in Europe. He blamed Miri's death on poverty since they had not had enough money for medical care. Vazirov wrote Stalin: "Miri's death left me with no reason not to return to Azerbaijan. I promised myself to defend the new Azerbaijan by embracing education and culture with all my strength. For me, Motherland is like a long-awaited shore after a turbulent voyage at sea."Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli's letter to Stalin on 20 May 1937, which he wrote in desperation, asking for a job after he had been stripped of his membership from the Azerbaijan Writers' Union a few months earlier. Orkhan Vazirov, "About My Father Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli," edited by Gilman Ilkin (Baku: Azerneshr, 1997), pp. 57–61.
Vazirov resolved, despite serious danger,Vazirov's decision to return to Baku was extremely risky as he had been appointed by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) as Ambassador to Turkey. The ADR had tried to resist the Bolshevik takeover and, consequently, most government officials had been killed. to try to return to his Homeland and work for the strength of the Azerbaijani people. Vazirov applied for permission to return to Azerbaijan SSR from Musabeyov who sought permission from Sergey Kirov for Vazirov's return. Permission was granted in late 1925 and Vazirov returned to Baku in the spring of 1926.
Upon his return, he taught languages at Azerbaijani colleges and translated various works of Russian writers into Azeri. In literary circles, he wrote several novels and became known by his penname Chamanzaminli. He took part in compiling the first Russian-Azeri Dictionary (1934).
Stalin's Repressions – 1937 In 1937, one of the most notorious years of Stalin's purges, there was an enormous effort on the part of Azerbaijan Writers' Union (as well as other Soviet entities) to "purge the ranks." Vazirov was among the 20 or so writers targeted. He tried to defend himself, claiming that he had been one of the most courageous writers fighting against religious abuse during the pre-Soviet days. At the Third Plenum of the Azerbaijan Writers' Union (March 1937), Chairman Seyfulla Shamilov criticized a list of Azerbaijani writers including Vazirov.Adabiyyat Qazeti (Literature Newspaper), 27 March 1937. On 9 June 1937, at least seven articles appeared in the newspaper Adabiyyat, accusing him of being a counter-revolutionary. He was criticized for introducing counter-revolutionary ideas in his antagonist characters, especially in his novels "Students" and "Maiden Spring."Orkhan Vazirov, About My Father Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli (Baku: Nargiz, 2007), p. 51. In Azeri.
Realizing the danger he was in, Chamanzaminli burned a large collection of his manuscripts.Personal recollection of his son Orkhan Vazirov (1928–2010) to Editor Betty Blair in 2007, describing how one day when he was about 10 years old, he ran back into the apartment from playing outside and saw his father stuffing the stove with a pile of manuscripts about three to four inches thick. According to Orkhan, Vazirov had said: "One day these manuscripts would have been invaluable." He was stripped of his membership in Azerbaijan's Writers' Union in 1937, which greatly paralyzed his efforts to gain any employment in his field.
Eager and willing to work and support his wife Bilgeyiz Ajalova and three children (Orkhan, 1928–2010), Fikrat (1929–2004) and Gulara (who was probably born around 1932 and who died shortly after World War II), he wrote a letter to Mir Jafar Baghirov, First Secretary of the Communist Party. A few weeks later, realizing that no answer was forthcoming, in desperation, Chamanzaminli wrote Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, providing a review of his literary career up to that point in his life.Chamanzaminli was 50 years old at the time. His letter to Stalin was dated 20 May 1937. No answer came from Stalin and so he made trips to Ashgabad and Moscow in a desperate attempt to find work but none was to be found. Returning late one night to Baku, he went underground, and remained hidden away for months in his apartment – while neighbors thought he was still in Moscow. At that time he wrote one of his most important novels – "Between Two Worlds" (meaning Iran and Russia). The novel was never published during his lifetime.
Finally, he gained a position as a teacher of the Russian language in Urgench, Uzbekistan in 1938.
Death in the GULAG – Stalin's political prison camps But authorities eventually managed to track Vazirov down in Urgench, Uzbekistan, in 1940, at the Pedagogical Institute where he was helping to establish the Russian Department and they arrested him. He was brought back to Baku for a drawn-out interrogation that lasted six months. Chamanzaminli learned that Bakir Chobanzade, a Crimean Tatar linguist and academician, were among those who had implicated him.Ziya Bunyadov, "Trial of Yusif Vazir Chamanzaminli," in “Red Terror” (Girmizi Terror, in Azeri)(Baku: Azerneshr, 1993), pp. 199–204. Clearly from photos, it can be seen that Vazirov was tortured during his interrogation period and his handwriting deteriorated drastically. None of his family members were allowed to visit him during this time but transcripts of the "interrogations" show that he never admitted to the Soviet government's false accusations, nor did he implicate any fellow Azerbaijanis in an attempt to get his own sentence reduced. Condemned on fabricated charges, Vazirov was sentenced to eight years of labor camps, which he served at Unzhlag at Sukhobezvodnaya railway station, Gorky Oblast, Russia. In January 1943, three years after his arrest, he died of malnutrition, disease (myocardial cardiac arrest, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis and pellagra).Personal file (Fund 92, Case 1168) of Vezirov Yusif Baba oghlu kept at the Information Centre of General Directorate of Internal Affairs Ministry of Nijegorodskaya Province in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Correspondence to his granddaughter Leyla Vazirova, Baku, on June 26, 2014.
Authorship of Ali and Nino