At the beginning of the 20th century, the literary and cultural environment of Karabakh gave the Azerbaijani people a priceless gem. This gem was named Uzeyir, and his surname was Hajibeyli. Uzeyir Hajibeyli was from a respected, spiritual generation, and his lineage has always included scientists, intellectuals, and people who have brought good to the people.
These thoughts are contained in the article entitled “A look at the life and work of Uzeyir Hajibeyli” by the head of the Department of Press History and Journalism of the Institute of Literature named after Nizami Ganjavi of ANAS, Doctor of Philology, Professor Vugar Ahmed.
Uzeyir opened his eyes to the world in 1885, while his father and mother were guests in Agjabedi. The family returned to their home in Shusha a little later. Uzeyir received his first education in one of the Shusha madrasas. Then he studied at the new-style school in Shusha and at the age of fourteen was admitted to the primary department for Muslim children of the Gori Teachers' Seminary. Having received excellent education from such powerful teachers as Chernyaevsky, Safarali Velibeyli, and Firidun bey Kocharli at the seminary, Uzeyir completed his education at the age of 19 and was appointed a teacher in the village of Hadrut in Karabakh. In addition to teaching here, young Uzeyir wrote and sent news about village life and everyday life to the "Kaspi" publishing house in Baku. This is how he entered the field of journalism, along with his pedagogical activity.
Since he was very talented, he had no difficulty in choosing a topic and choosing a form for the elaboration of the topic. One of Uzeyir bey's advantages was that he was very good at observing. He never treated an event, story, person, or even an animal that someone else treated indifferently, he remembered events and stories whose subject matter was meaningful and educational, and he engraved various human characters in his memory. The writer, like a strong psychologist, seemed to see the souls of people, and, realizing the extent of their spirituality, he absorbed them into his memory.
Along with all this, he often visited the faithful people who cherished the tenets of Islam, both in Shusha and Baku, and closely participated in their gatherings. The master singer of Azerbaijan, Hajibaba Huseynov, said that Uzeyir Hajibeyli borrowed some of the musical samples he used in “Leyli and Majnun” from the sounds of noh, lament, and sinazan that he heard in the mourning of Imam Hussein. In our opinion, this stemmed from his faith and love for the Islamic religion. This love is once again manifested in Uzeyir bey's unparalleled and world-famous opera "Leyli and Majnun".
Some Uzeyir fans present him only as the creator of professional Azerbaijani music and unknowingly form the opinion that Uzeyir bey was only a composer, or rather, he was not versed in any other art except music. However, Uzeyir Hajibeyli's rich and multifaceted creativity encompasses many areas of art, culture and literature. The most important thing is that although the great artist died in Baku in 1948, his inexhaustible artistic treasure will last for many centuries.
It should not be forgotten that in 1918, when the Dashnak-Bolshevik armed groups consisting of Armenians committed massacres against our people, Uzeyir bey, speaking in the French press, spread Armenian vandalism, as well as the British occupation policy, the tyranny of the "Centro-Caspian dictatorship government", the hypocrisy of the Socialist Workers' Party and the brutality of other enemies of Azerbaijan throughout Europe with his publicistic speeches.
U. Hajibeyli is an artist who created the foundation of Azerbaijani composition. In this regard, he is a teacher of each of the Azerbaijani composers. He rendered unparalleled services in the development of Azerbaijani music. At the same time, his multifaceted activity is divided into journalist, publicist, translator, educator, public figure and other branches. However, Uzeyir bey also showed high skill in the field of drama of fiction.
