Today marks the commemoration of Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, one of the founders of the first democratic republic in the East, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

Axar.az informs Mahammad Amin Rasulzade was born on January 31, 1884, in the village of Novkhani, Baku.

In his youth, he participated in the formation of the “Hummat” organization alongside social democrats. Facing persecution under the Tsarist regime, he emigrated to Iran in 1909, where he worked for a period as editor-in-chief of the “Irane-nou” newspaper. After the constitutional revolution was suppressed, he moved to Turkiye.

In 1911, he joined the Musavat Party, and four years later he was elected Chairman of the Central Committee of the Musavat Party. In 1918, together with Fatali Khan Khoyski and others, he officially declared the creation of the first republic in the East. After the Bolshevik occupation on April 28, 1920, he was arrested. Shortly afterward, on Stalin’s orders, he was released from prison and taken to Moscow. Despite Stalin’s insistence, he refused to cooperate with the Soviet regime and went abroad.

Mahammad Amin Rasulzade passed away on March 6, 1955, in Ankara, and was buried in the Esri Cemetery.

On December 24, 1992, Azerbaijan’s President Abulfaz Elchibey signed a decree regarding the return of family members of Mahammad Amin Rasulzade who were repressed under the totalitarian Soviet regime, and the resolution of their social and household matters.

On December 29, 1993, President Heydar Aliyev signed a decree on the 110th anniversary of Mahammad Amin Rasulzade’s birth.

On November 22, 2013, President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on the 130th anniversary of Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, which was marked with a series of celebrations both inside and outside Azerbaijan.

In 2018, on the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, President Ilham Aliyev declared the year as the “Year of the Republic.”

On December 30, 2023, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the 140th anniversary of Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, and his grave was renovated and restored.