AZƏRBAYCAN RESPUBLİKASININ ELM VƏ TƏHSİL NAZİRLİYİ Bakı Dövlət Universiteti

Although Baku State University (BSU) was founded in the times of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the initial national and moral conditions necessary for its establishment were created throughout the history of the Azerbaijani people. However, the main process began at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Provisional Government that emerged in Russia after the February Revolution of 1917 raised the question of opening a Russian university in Tiflis, for which a commission of professors of higher women's courses was set up. The commission was headed by an eminent scientist, surgeon and educator, Professor Vasili Razumovski who had experience in establishing a university. V.I. Razumovsky wrote about it: 'Towards the end of our work, the Caucasus separated from Russia in the form of the Transcaucasian Republic (i.e. the Transcaucasian Commissariat, ed.), and a mixed government of Georgians, Armenians and Turks (Azerbaijanis, ed.) was formed. The Minister of Public Education was a man from Baku, Khan Khoysky (Fatali Khan Khoysky, ed.). Using the work we had done, we approached this government with a proposal to organize a Russian university in Tiflis. The minister listened to us until the end and expressed his sympathy for the establishment of a Russian university in the Caucasus, but added: 'Why in Tbilisi? There is a polytechnic in Tiflis, which is now a Georgian university. Perhaps it would make more sense to organize a university in Baku?" He took into account the information sheet with the estimate we had prepared and promised to report on the case to the Council of Ministers.

The political events in the Caucasus at that time made it impossible to solve the problem. After the collapse of the Transcaucasian Federal Republic in May 1918, the Higher Women's Courses in Tiflis were transformed into the Transcaucasian University. Professor V.I. Razumovsky was elected the first rector of this university, where the language of instruction was Russian. From the very beginning, the university faced political contradictions between the republics and great financial difficulties. This raised the question of moving the newly opened university to Ekaterinodar (now Krasnodar), Irevan or Baku.

The proclamation of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on 28 May was a unique event in the history of national statehood of the Azerbaijani people. The strategic goals of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, including the main goal of the national-cultural revolution built on democratic foundations, were to realize the ideals of the previous generations and to educate the generation of the national intelligentsia of modern Azerbaijan in the unity of the Muslim-Turkic world. This generation, united by its genealogy, set itself the task of organizing an army of independent, democratically-minded, honest intellectuals who had absorbed European culture and were thoroughly educated. The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic tried to open a university in Baku. At that time, the advanced intelligentsia and public figures of Azerbaijan considered it necessary to establish a higher educational institution in order to realize their progressive ideas. The training of national cadres with higher education would lead to further strengthening of the social base of the national state and its inviolability.

In early 1919,  Hamid-bey Shahtakhtinsky travelled to Tiflis and reported on the proposal of the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic to move the Transcaucasian Russian University to Baku. He also reported that the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic had promised to provide the university with good buildings, facilities, etc. The inability of the Transcaucasian Russian University to function in Tiflis due to financial problems prompted the Council of Professors to take a decisive step. At the end of March 1919, at a meeting of the University Council, Rector V.I. Razumovsky considered it advisable to move the University to the city of Baku, arguing that the proposal from Baku was more realistic and reasonable. The majority of the council members voted in favor of moving the university to Baku. A commission was set up to resolve the issue once and for all. At the suggestion of the commission, a delegation consisting of the rector V.I. Razumovsky and representatives of students and professors was sent to Baku to negotiate with the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and to familiarize themselves with the real situation on the ground. As V.I. Razumovsky wrote, during the negotiations in Baku "it became clear that the Azerbaijani government was seriously interested in having a university in Baku. The mood of all sections of society... was directed towards the immediate opening of the university... We were given to understand that even if the Transcaucasian Russian University did not move, a university would be established in Baku; the deadline was set in the final form: 1 May".

The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, not having received a reply in time, sent a telegram to V.I. Razumovsky informing him that a new university was to be opened in Baku and that the government had asked him to undertake the organization of the university and to set up a commission for this purpose. In his telegraphic reply, V.I. Razumovsky said that he had accepted the offer and, after resigning from the post of Rector of the Transcaucasian Russian University, had set about organizing the commission. On 19 May 1919 the National Government adopted an 8-article decree on the organization of a University Commission under the Ministry of Public Education. The commission consisted of Professor V.I. Razumovsky (chairman), Professors N.A. Dubrovsky, A.M. Levin and I.Sh. Sitovich and teacher L.A. Ishkov (members). A month later the composition of the commission was extended. The main task of the commission was to prepare and submit to the government a draft law on the state university, its statute, a draft of the university staff and a draft of the budget. On 31 May, the University Commission prepared and submitted to the Ministry of National Education a declaration on the opening of Baku University, a draft law on the establishment of a university in the city of Baku and the accompanying explanatory notes, the university charter, the staff composition and the budget of the Faculty of History and Philology, including the Eastern Department, and the Faculty of Medicine for the academic year 1919-20. The University Commission, on the basis of a draft law submitted to the Ministry of Public Education, requested AZN 3.5 million for the organization and equipment of the University. The government, despite the difficult economic conditions in the newly formed Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, welcomed the documents submitted for discussion by the Minister of Public Education,  Rashid Kaplanov, and increased the funds required for the university to 5 million manats and raised the salaries of the teachers by one third of the planned amount. The Commission's tasks also included adapting the two buildings allocated to the University - the Commercial School and the First Gymnasium - to the educational process before the beginning of the academic year, equipping classrooms and laboratories with equipment, purchasing furniture, various apparatus and devices, books, etc.

On 7 July, the government extensively discussed the compilation of documents and the draft law submitted by the University Commission through the Ministry of Public Education and adopted it with some additions and amendments.

The documents adopted by the government were widely discussed in July-August 1919 in the Legislative, Budget and Finance Committees of the Parliament and in the parliamentary groups of the parties represented in the Parliament. During these discussions it became clear that there were also opponents to the opening of a university among the public, the government and the parliament. Some of those who opposed the opening of the university believed that teaching in Russian would enable the Russian professors invited here to pursue a policy of Russification among the students. In their opinion, these scientists would be more engaged in missionary activities than in teaching science to students and implementing the Tsarist policy of Christianisation and Russification. Faced with this situation, the chairman of the University Commission, V.I. Razumovsky, held meetings with influential members of the government and parliament, as well as progressive intellectuals with a voice in the public sphere, assuring them that the sole purpose of the university would be to educate young people in science.

Although there were great obstacles in the way of establishing the first European-style university in the Muslim East, the national government and intellectuals overcame all difficulties and successfully completed this task. Three months of intense struggle ended on 1 September 1919 with the adoption of the law on the opening of the University at the 70th session of the Parliament. The merits of the enlightened intelligentsia of Azerbaijan and the patriotic people in the adoption of this law should be particularly noted. This law, entitled "On the Establishment of the State University in the City of Baku", provided for the opening of four faculties at the University - History and Philology (including the Eastern Department), Natural Sciences, Law and Medicine. According to Article 10 of the law, the State University in Baku was considered to be opened on 1 September 1919. Taking into account the concerns of the public, the second paragraph of article 2 of the law stated that the Turkish language (Azeri - ed.) would be taught as a compulsory subject in all faculties. Articles 8 and 9 of the law were particularly important in terms of democratic values and equal rights. Here it was written: "Students from Transcaucasian and other universities....may be enrolled in the same courses at Baku University. New students, male or female, will be admitted on a general basis".

Law on the Establishment of the Baku State Darulfun (University), adopted at the session of the Parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on 1 September 1919

Law on the Establishment of the Baku State Darulfun (University), adopted at the session of the Parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on 1 September 1919.

First rector of the university Vasily Ivanovich Razumovsky  (1857-1935)

The last meeting of the University Commission took place on 15 September 1919. The meeting established the Provisional Council and the Board of the University. The main staff of the university and the departments were appointed. After 20 September, in order to recruit the missing staff, Vasily Razumovsky and Nikolay Dubrovsky met with a number of prominent scientists in Rostov-on-Don, Ekaterinoslav and Kharkiv and obtained their consent to come to Baku. Another member of the University Commission, Boris Finkelstein, was sent to Europe to buy equipment, literature, etc.

On 29 September 1919, the Charter of the University was adopted, consisting of 5 chapters and 72 articles. The Charter defined the organizational structure of the University, the activities of its scientific and pedagogical branches, and the duties and rights of professors and teaching staff.

The Law and the Charter adopted by the Parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic have played an important role in the organization of the University administration. In these two documents concerning the University, it is important to focus on one issue that is important for our present and historical past. Both documents defined the status of the University as a scientific and educational institution endowed with autonomy. This fact in itself reflected how democratic and humanistic values were supported and respected by the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, both in essence and in character.

It should be noted that although the University was granted the right to autonomy, this academic freedom did not last long, although it was preserved to some extent in the first years of Soviet power (1920-1922), it was abolished in the following years.

The first meeting of the University Council was held on 10 November 1919. At the meeting, the teaching staff was approved and 15 November was declared the first day of classes at the University. The University started its activities with the Faculty of History and Philology and the Faculty of Medicine.

In the academic year 1919/20 there were a total of 1,094 students at the University, including occasional students. Of these, 877 were regular students and 217 occasional students. 604 persons (509 regular students) were admitted to the Faculty of History and Philology and 490 persons (368 regular students) to the Faculty of Medicine. The distribution of students by nationality was as follows 297 Azerbaijanis, 366 Jews, 209 Russians and 222 representatives of other nationalities (Armenians, Georgians, Poles, Germans, etc.).

Ivan Ivanovich Shirokogorov, Dean of the University Medical Faculty (centre) among students and teachers (1922

The first classes at the university began on 15 November at the Faculty of History and Philology with Nikolai Dubrovsky's lecture on general history. Vasily Razumovsky recalled that the large auditorium was filled with people, including students, intellectuals, deputies, government officials and others. After that, Professor Lev Zimin's introductory lecture aroused everyone's interest and showed the public what a great wealth they had acquired with the opening of the university

Classes at the Faculty of Medicine began on 20 November 1919. The first lecture was given by Arkady Oshman.

Baku State University started its activity with the academic staff of 44 people, including 12 professors, 3 associate professors and 1 private - associate professor, which is twice less than the number of the staff. The number of Azerbaijani teachers in the academic staff of the university was 9 people. Among them were the academician Mustafa Topchubashov, who later became a world-famous surgeon, and Muhammad Agha Shahtakhtinsky, associate professor, famous publicist and editor of the Azerbaijani newspaper "Shargi-Rus" in Tiflis from 1903 to 1905. Political and state figures of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Mohammad Amin Rasulzade and Rashid Bey Kaplanov gave lectures on 'History of Ottoman Literature', and Deputy Minister Hamid Bey Shahtakhtinsky gave lectures on Russian language and literature.

The opening of Baku State University was an unprecedented victory for Azerbaijan's democratic culture and its personalities, who fought against the fanaticism and ignorance of some sections of society. On the occasion of this event, the first rector of the university, V.I. Razumovsky, wrote: "Azerbaijan has established its own educational centre, and the new striking page in the history of the Turkic (Azerbaijani) people has been written. The new torch of learning was lit at the crossroads of Asia and Europe". An article published in the newspaper "Azerbaijan" (17 November 1919) under the title "Opening of Darulfunun (University)" reads as follows "...If a new nation means a new science, a new philosophy, then every Darulfunun (University) will be a new temple... The Azerbaijani Darulfunun is of course the Turkish Darulfunun, because the Turkish nation, the Turkish parliament and the Turkish government opened it to the Turkish youth. The 15th of November, the date of the beginning of the life and activity of Darulfunun, will be the beginning of a new era of progress...'.

Heydar Aliyev, the world-renowned state and political figure and leader of the Azerbaijani people, gave a very objective assessment of such an important historical event as the establishment of BSU, noting that the establishment of our university, which has been a beacon of Azerbaijani science since the beginning of the century until today, is one of the most significant events in the history of our nation. After intense debates and discussions, the personalities of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic realized perhaps the greatest dream of their lives - they succeeded in creating an independent higher education institution of an independent state - Baku State University.

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which with its first steps proved its faith in universal values and established the ideas of democracy and humanism in the educational system of Azerbaijan, became a victim of Soviet occupation and ideology in April 1920. Although Baku State University, a monument of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, has continued to exist since that date, it has had to endure long and difficult years.

“Materials from the book “Baku State University.

Centennial Temple of Science and Education” (Baku, 2019) have been used.