On June 6, at 16:00, in the park in front of the main building of ANAS within the framework of the II Turkish World Literature and Book Festival in Baku was held a meeting with the People's writer Anar. The presenter of the event, ANAS President, Academician Isa Habibbayli gave a wide and meaningful introductory speech about the main features of Anar's life and work. Despite the windy weather, my colleague, senior researcher of our Department, Doctor of Philology Baba Babayev and I watched the speakers carefully until the end of the event. After the speech of Anar, the traditional photo-taking ceremony began. A picture is a frozen image of a moment, a petrified monument of a mood that cannot be repeated.
Baba Babayev turned to me with concern and suddenly asked - Who are we going to buy these pictures from? Since I didn't find anyone I knew among the photographers, I answered - no one. I knew Baba Babayev since the 80s of the last century. Both of us were doctoral students of the same department at the Institute of Literature. We completed our doctoral work in about the same period.
Baba Babayev was a well-known educator, devoted researcher-scientist. He was awarded the honorary titles of "Advanced Educator" and "Advanced Education Worker".
He was one of the active researchers of the Azerbaijani literature of the 19th-20th centuries. Mirza Fatali Akhundzadeh, Abdulla Shaig, Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, Yusif Vazir Chamenzaminli, Abdurrahim Bey Hagverdiyev, Suleyman Sani Akhundov, Nariman Narimanov, Taghi Shahbazi, Beyukagha Talibli, Sultan Majid Ganizadeh, etc. the life and creativity of prominent writers and dramatists, artistic issues have been widely reflected.
In recent years, Baba Babayev worked tirelessly on the life and creativity of Hasan Bey Zardabi and conducted serious research. Many times in the corridor of the Institute of Literature, we exchanged views on different aspects of Hasan Bey Zardabi's life. I spared him a copy of some archival documents on the subject...
The news of Baba Babayev's death this morning deeply shook those who knew him. On the desk, I noticed a "signal copy" of the book "Hasan Bey Zardabi's Life and Creativity", which had just come out of the printing house, and a long list with handwritten notes between the monograph. The author did not have time to present his newly published work to the intellectuals he intended ... the fool justified him. I took the book "without permission" and quickly reviewed the pages. Pages 68-71 of the monograph reflect our conversations about Hasan Bey Zardabi and the documents I presented to him. Even though Mr. Baba did not tell me anything about this, the fact itself appears as a confirmation of his halal, honesty, and generosity.
The world is a place of halal, honesty, generosity...
In the photo (from left): Mrs. Parvin, A. Rustamli, Baba Babayev, Anar, Namaz Mustafayev, Isa Habibbayli, Mehman Hasanli and others.
Baku, 08.06.2023
P.S. I thank Rashad Gasimli for his help in obtaining the picture.
