Nasib bey Yusif bey oghlu Yusifbeyli ( az, Nəsib bəy Yusif bəy oğlu Yusifbəyli) or Usubbeyov ( az, Usubbəyov ; 5 July 1881,

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd� ...

- 31 May 1920) - Azerbaijani publicist, statesman and major political figure in Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

Early years

Nasib bey Yusifbeyli was born in 1881 in Elisavetpol (present-day Ganja, Azerbaijan). After graduating from a gymnasium (secondary school) in Ganja, he enrolled as a student at the Law Faculty of the Novorossiya University (now the Odessa University) in 1902. When the university was temporarily shut down by the Tsarist Russian authorities due to revolutionary student activities, N. Yusifbeyli moved to

Bakhchisarai Bakhchysarai ( crh, Bağçasaray, italic=yes; russian: Бахчисара́й; ua, Бахчисара́й; tr, Bahçesaray) is a town in Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Re ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, where he started editing "Tercuman" newspaper with the Crimean Turkic intellectual Ismail Gasprinsky. In 1908, Yusifbeyli moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, continuing on his work as a publicist and establishing the Turkic Society. In 1909, he returned to Elisavetpol to work at its city council. In 1917, Yusifbeyli established the National Party of Turkic Federalists in Ganja, with the main goal of federalism in the Russian empire. In July 1917, the party joined the Musavat Muslim Democrat Party of

Mammad Amin Rasulzade Mahammad Amin Akhund Haji Mulla Alekber oghlu Rasulzade ( az, Мәһәммәд Әмин Ахунд Һаҹы Молла Әләкбәр оғлу Рәсулзадә, italic=no, Məhəmməd Əmin Axund Hacı Molla Ələkbər oğlu Rəsulzadə, ; tr ...

, and Yusifbeyli became Musavat's regional chair in Ganja.

Turkic Federalist Party

After the merge, Yusifbeyli was nominated as a member of the Constituent Assembly of Russia, where he was elected from the Transcaucasian electoral district according to list No. 10 - the Muslim National Committee and Musavat. The dispersal of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks put an end to doubts about the possibility of establishing a parliamentary system in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

under the Bolshevik government. This forced deputies from the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

to declare the non-recognition of the power of the Bolsheviks and the creation of their own regional power - the Transcaucasian Seim. The seats in this regional parliament were distributed among national parties. The second-largest faction in the Sejm was the Musavat Party faction. The head of the faction was M.E. Rasulzade and N. Yusifbeyli became one of his two deputies. On May 27, 1918, at the meeting of former members of the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

of the Transcaucasian Seim, the National Council of Azerbaijan was established, which included Nasib Yusifbeyli. May 28, 1918, the first Azerbaijani government was created. Yusifbeyli appointed to the posts of Minister of Finance, Minister of Public Education and Religious Affairs.

Relations

When he was the head of government, relations with Georgia were established as a result of the conclusion of a military agreement. When Yusifbeyli was a prime minister, relations were established with many European states. In January 1920, the Supreme Council of the Entente recognized the independence of Azerbaijan de facto.

Political career

When the short-lived

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; (), (). 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as pa ...

was established on 10 February 1918, N. Yusifbeyli became its Minister of Education. On 28 May 1918, when Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was proclaimed, N. Yusifbeyli again held the cabinet post of Minister of Education in the ADR government. From March 1919 till March 1920, he was the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, in parallel, also holding the post of the Minister of Interior from March till December 1919. After the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

invasion of Azerbaijan and fall of ADR in April 1920, N. Yusifbeyli escaped from Baku but was murdered on 31 May 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusifbeyli, Nasib 1881 births 1920 deaths Azerbaijani Muslims Politicians from Ganja, Azerbaijan People from Elizavetpol Governorate Russian Constituent Assembly members Azerbaijan Democratic Republic politicians Musavat politicians Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan Finance ministers of Azerbaijan Education ministers of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani nobility