Jahan Mir Rzakhan qizi Talyshinskaya ( az, Cahan Talışinskaya) (9 February 1909 in

Lankaran Lankaran ( az, Lənkəran, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a dis ...

– 1 March 1967 in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

) was an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i folk singer and theatre actress.

Early career

Born in Lankaran to a wealthy noble family, from her maternal side, she was the niece of general

Samad bey Mehmandarov Samad bey Sadykh bey oghlu Mehmandarov ( az, Səməd bəy Sadıx bəy oğlu Mehmandarov; October 16, 1855 – February 12, 1931) was an Azerbaijani General of the Artillery in the Imperial Russian Army and served as Minister of Defense o ...

. Talyshinskaya first studied at

Maryam Bayramalibeyova Maryam Teymur qizi Bayramalibeyova (Azeri: ''Məryəm Bayraməlibəyova'') (1898, Lankaran – 1987, Baku) was an Azerbaijani social activist and feminist. Early life Maryam Bayramalibeyova was the daughter of Azerbaijani historian and journalist ...

's Uns School for Girls, and moved to Baku at the age of nine to attend the Azerbaijani Girls Seminary. While residing at her older sister Bilgeys's house, she learned how to play the piano and the

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

with no professional instruction. Her exceptional ear for music and voice was quickly gaining her fame as an amateur

mugham Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific l ...

singer and in 1934, she became a soloist at the Azerbaijan Philharmonic Society. She travelled to Azerbaijan's remote rural regions to collect samples of folk music, many of which would later be performed publicly for the first time. By 1936 she had given concerts 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 million ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, and had released a

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

.The Voice of Happiness and Optimism: Jahan Talyshinskaya
by Afruz Mammadova. ''Musigi-dunya.az''

Exile and later life

After the arrest and exile of her ex-husband, brother, sister and two brothers-in-law in 1937 during the

Stalin Purges Purges of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union (russian: "Чистка партийных рядов", ', "cleansing of the party ranks") were Soviet political events, especially during the 1920s, in which periodic reviews of members of the Co ...

, Talyshinskaya was treated by government institutions with suspicion, sometimes to a point of being refused permission to go on tour. Despite being recognized as an Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan in 1940, Talyshinskaya and her fourteen-year-old son Nazim were eventually exiled to

Petropavl Petropavl ( kk, Петропавл, Petropavl ) or Petropavlovsk () is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. The city is also kno ...

ovlsk,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

as "enemies of the people" in 1942. She was later permitted to settle in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, where she managed to continue her career at the local philharmonic society. She soon met with the member of the USSR

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

Arts Committee and future Deputy Minister of Culture Vladimir Surin who had happened to know Talyshinskaya from a pop music contest in Moscow, in which she had participated and won back in 1938. Following his approval, she left Tashkent for

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

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 ...

to perform at the Tbilisi Azeri Drama Theatre, and later (at the insistence of director

Shamsi Badalbeyli Shamsi Badal oghlu Badalbeyli ( az, Şəmsi Bədəl oğlu Bədəlbəyli) (23 February 1911, Shusha – 23 May 1987, Baku) was an Azerbaijani theatre director and actor. Life and career Shamsi Badalbeyli was born in Shusha to Badal Badalbeyli, a m ...

) at the

Azerbaijan Musical Comedy Theatre Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country, transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Wester ...

, where she proved to be an outstanding comedy actress. In 1949, her case was revoked and she was exiled to

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

for the second time. Talyshinskaya and her son were exonerated shortly after Soviet premier

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

's death but continued to live in Tashkent until the devastating earthquake of 1966 destroyed their house. They immediately returned to Baku where Jahan Talyshinskaya died a year later of heart failure, while playing the piano.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talyshinskaya, Jahan 1909 births 1967 deaths People from Lankaran People from Baku Governorate Azerbaijani stage actresses 20th-century Azerbaijani women singers Soviet stage actresses Soviet women singers Talysh people

Early career

Exile and later life

See also

References