Baku Boulevard Creator's Hard Fate

Baku Boulevard Creator's Hard Fate

Mammad Hasan Hajinski was both the architect and minister. Today's symbol of Baku - the Seaside Boulevard was his project, and the park was laid out under his direction. Later, during the period of the Azerbaijan People's Republic Mammad Hajinski also served as a Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) and the last Prime Minister of ADR.

While studying at Saint Petersburg Institute of Technology (Technical University) he was in communication with Saadat khanum born in 1885, well-educated and Mullah Talib's  granddaughter who lived in the neighbourhood. Saadat's father was engaged in constructing houses for the rich. When his wife died, Hajinski left his only daughter with Talib, his father.  He used to go for long trips. They lived in a comfortable house in Surakhanski street in Baku, and Saadat used to play the piano that her father had brought for her from Italy. There were two silver candlesticks on the piano, and she played the piano perfectly. In 1902, Mammad  Hajinski returned to Baku and got married to Saadat khanum. She took her faivorite piano with her to her husband's house. Mammad Hajinski liked singing, and Saadat khanum always accompanied him.

He made significant contributions to architectural improvements of Baku. The Baku City Duma allocated 60.000 roubles for the construction of the Cinema Olympic, Eldorado Restaurant and a complex consisting of the Seaside Boulevard and the Sea Bath. The project was successfully completed in two years.

In spite of the fact that certain prohibitions were settled by the Tsar regime, in 1913, Hajinski was the only Azerbaijani who had headed the municipality for a short period. During the time when he held the position of the director of the construction department of Baku Municipality, he issued a decree on the protection and restoration of the Shirvanshahs' Palace.

Hajinski played an exceptional role in the beautification of Baku. Along with it, he widened his social activity. On March 22, 1917, Interim Executive Committee of Muslim Council was established, and Hajinski was appointed its Chairman. He was one of the small-numbered Muslims at Duma. On May 28, 1918, when Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was proclaimed, Hajinski was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs. During the Soviet regime, Hajinski worked in the Agricultural Council of Azerbaijan. Since 1923, he had served as Deputy Chairman of Transcaucasian State Planning Committee.

M. Hajinski was kept in a solitary cell, and the letters that he had sent from the prison were irreplaceable documents that shed light on dark issues. His family tried to provide him with food and cigarettes at the prison. He was often interrogated and he was tortured. In one of his letters he wrote: "My poor children, take care of your mother. Please, don't send anything to me. I have everything here. Sell the piano, and don't go hungry."

... On February 9, 1931, he committed suicide. He hang himself with a bed sheet.  

That day Saadat khanum and Shamil, their son came to the prison, and they heard about the accident. Saadat khanum was told that they were not allowed to take Hajinski's corpse for burial. She addressed a telegram to S. Orjonikidze and asked him to let her see her husband for the last time. That evening she was at home with her children praying for the soul of her husband. She prohibited her children to weep. She crooned his husband's favourite  song. Her children also joined her.

On the next day, according to S. Orjonikidze's instruction Saadat khanum could see her husband for the last time. She was given a small suitcase, and she returned home. They found a rope in the suitcase. The late's sons took that rope to the graveyard where F. Khoyski and H. Aghayev had been buried, and they buried it there too.

... At the order of S. Orjonikidze, the Hajinskis were provided with a scanty pension till 1940. But as the family was prosecuted, Hajinski's sons were expelled from schools, and they lost their jobs. They were obliged to emigrate from the country. They settled in Germany. Later Saadat khanum sent a letter to her sons asking them to go back to their native land. Shamil came back, but his brother Nushiravan didn't wish to have his father's fate and preferred to stay forever in foreign parts.

 

Elmin NURI

 

 

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