Today is the birthday of Mohammad Amin Rasulzadeh, an Azerbaijani statesman and public figure, politician, and publicist, one of the founders of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920) and leaders of the Azerbaijani political emigration.

Axar.az reminds us that 141 years have passed since the birth of Mohammad Amin Rasulzadeh.

Mohammad Amin Rasulzadeh was born on January 31, 1884, in Novkhani, Baku. His father sent his son to the second "Russian-Muslim" school, headed by the famous educator Sultan Majid Ganizadeh. After graduating from there, he continued his education at the Baku Technical School, in Russian.

In 1902, seventeen-year-old M.A. Rasulzadeh created the "Muslim Youth Organization". This was the first political organization in the 20th century to wage a secret struggle against Russian colonial rule in Azerbaijan.

In the fall of 1917, M.A. Rasulzade was elected a deputy from Azerbaijan and Turkestan to the Russian parliament. On May 26, 1918, the Transcaucasian Sejm was dissolved as a result of internal factional disputes. On the 27th of the same month, the Azerbaijani National Council was established, consisting of members of various parties included in the Muslim faction of the Sejm. By a majority vote, M.A. Rasulzade was elected chairman of the National Council.

On May 28, 1918, radio stations and newspapers of all countries broadcast the declaration of Azerbaijan's independence to the world. This meant that the Azerbaijani people were conveying their existence, their existence as a people to all of humanity, and fully declaring the establishment of their national state. The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was organized under the leadership of Fatali Khan Khoyski. Thus, the Azerbaijani people established a republic for the first time not only among the Turkic peoples but also in the entire East.

However, the life of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic lasted only 23 months. After the occupation of Azerbaijan by Soviet Russia on April 28, 1920, M.A. Rasulzadeh was forced to leave his homeland. M.A. Rasulzadeh, who fought for the freedom of Azerbaijan abroad for many years, died of diabetes in Ankara on March 6, 1955.

On December 29, 1993, President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev signed a decree "On the celebration of the 110th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding public and political figure of Azerbaijan M.A. Rasulzadeh."

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan signed a decree on the celebration of the 140th anniversary of Mohammad Amin Rasulzadeh on December 30, 2023.