Hamida Ahmad bey qizi Javanshir ( az, Həmidə Cavanşir) (19 January 1873 – 6 February 1955) – One of the first enlightened women of Azerbaijan, wife of
Jalil Mammadguluzadeh
Jalil Huseyngulu oghlu Mammadguluzadeh ( az, Cəlil Məmmədquluzadə; 22 February 1869 – 4 January 1932), was an Azerbaijani satirist and writer. He was the founder of ''Molla Nasraddin'', a satirical magazine that would greatly influence ...
, daughter of historian
Ahmad Bey Javanshir, philanthropist, translator, member of
Azerbaijan Writers' Union.
Early life
Born on her family's ancestral estate in the village of Kahrizli, Hamida Javanshir was the eldest child of
Ahmad bey Javanshir (1828–1903), an
Azeri
Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...
historian, translator and officer of the
Russian Imperial
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
army,
[Megastar and Her Light]
An interview with Hamida Javanshir's granddaughter Dr. Mina Davatdarova. ''Gender-az.org'' and his wife Mulkijahan. She was the great-great-grandniece of
Ibrahim Khalil Khan
Ibrahim Khalil khan Javanshir (1732–1806) was an Azerbaijani Turkic khan of the Karabakh Khanate from the Javanshir family, who succeeded his father Panah-Ali khan Javanshir as the ruler of the khanate.
Early life
He was born in c. 1732 in ...
, the last ruling khan of
Karabakh
Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and ...
. Hamida and her younger brother were educated at home; when she was nine, a family of
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
tutor
TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...
s came to live with them to guide their education. By age 14, she was familiar with
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
and
Islamic literature
Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms incl ...
, and spoke
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
French fluently.
In 1889 Hamida Javanshir married a
Barda-native,
Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim bey Davatdarov. They settled in
Brest-Litovsk (in present-day
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
). Soon their two children, Mina and Muzaffar, were born. Javanshir took
ballroom dance lessons and studied
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
. In 1900 the family moved to
Kars, where Davatdarov was appointed commander of a military fortress. A year later he died, leaving his 28-year-old wife a widow; her wish to study medicine in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
seemed unrealizable.
Later life and activism
She inherited the Kahrizli estate from her father and continued his successful cotton business. In accordance with his will, she took the manuscript of his historical work ''On the Political Affairs of the Karabakh khanate in 1747–1805'' to
Tiflis
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
(capital of present-day
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
) in order to get it printed at the Geyrat publishing house. Here, in October 1905, she met Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, who then was a columnist for the Azeri-language newspaper ''Sharg-i rus''. In 1907 they married (Mammadguluzadeh was twice-widowed at the time) and lived in Tiflis until 1920. They had two sons, Midhat in 1908 and Anvar in 1911.
[Our Pride: Jalil Mammadguluzadeh]
by Galina Mikeladze. ''Azerbaijanskie izvestia''. 4 January 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007 She worked with Mammadguluzadeh to publish ''
Molla Nasraddin
Nasreddin () or Nasreddin Hodja (other variants include: Mullah Nasreddin Hooja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin) (1208-1285) is a character in the folklore of the Muslim world from Arabia to Central Asia ...
'', a satirical magazine.
During the
Karabakh
Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and ...
famine of 1907 Hamida Javanshir distributed flour and millet to starving villagers, and also acted as a mediator between local Armenians and Azeris after two years of mutual massacres.
In 1908 she founded a
coeducational school in her home village of Kahrizli, which became the first Azeri school where boys and girls could study in the same classroom. In 1910 Javanshir, together with female members of the city's Azeri nobility, founded the Muslim Women's Caucasian Benevolent Society.
During a
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic in the
Soviet era
The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...
, she bought vaccines and gave shots to the people of Kahrizli.
In 1921, after having lived in
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
for a year, the family moved to Baku, where she wrote memoirs and translated her husband's works. She published a memoir in the 1930s, ''Awake: A Moslem Woman’s Rare Memoir of Her Life and Partnership with the Editor of Molla Nasreddin, the Most Influential Satirical Journal of the Caucasus and Iran, 1907–1931'', published posthumously in 1967, and translated into English by Hasan Javadi and
Willem Floor
Willem Marius Floor (born 1942) is a Dutch historian, writer, and Iranologist. He was born in 1942 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. After finishing high school, he attended the University of Utrecht where he studied economics, non-Western sociology, an ...
.
She also translated Russian poetry.
She outlived two of her children: Mina in 1923 and Midhat in 1935.
She died in Baku in 1955. There is a museum of her life and works in Kahrizli.
See also
*
Cotton production in Azerbaijan
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Javanshir, Hamida
1873 births
1955 deaths
Azerbaijani feminists
Proponents of Islamic feminism
Azerbaijani philanthropists
Azerbaijani educators
Azerbaijani Shia Muslims
Azerbaijani nobility
Azerbaijani expatriates in Iran
Soviet expatriates in Iran
Azerbaijani women writers
Azerbaijani writers
Azerbaijani publicists
Translators from Russian
Azerbaijani humanitarians