Tofig Gasym oghlu Kocharli ( az, Tofiq Qasım oğlu Köçərli; russian: Тофиг Гасым оглы Кочарли; February 11, 1929 – October 31, 2007) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and Azerbaijani

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, former deputy to

Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR ( Azerbaijani: Азәрбаjҹан ССР Али Совети, ''Azərbaycan SSR Ali Soveti''; Russian: Верховный Совет Азербайджа́нской ССР tr. ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Azerba ...

, member of

Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) ( az, Azərbaycan Milli Elmlər Akademiyası (AMEA)), located in Baku, is the main state research organization and the primary body that conducts research and coordinates activities in the fields of ...

, most prominently for his work on the histories of Azerbaijani regions 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 (Caspia ...

and Nakhchivan.

Biography

Early years and development

Tofig Kocharli was born on February 11, 1929, in İsalı village of

Gadabay District Gadabay District ( az, Gədəbəy rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Dashkasan, Shamkir, Tovuz, and ...

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

. After finishing secondary school, he entered

Azerbaijan State University Baku State University (BSU) ( az, Bakı Dövlət Universiteti (BDU)) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established in 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and ...

in 1945. While in university, due to good grades, Kocharli skipped his 2nd year right to the 3rd year, and graduated with Bachelor's degree in History in 1950. In 1951-1952, he finished his doctoral studies receiving Ph.D. in History from

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

within a year and a half. At age 36, he was the youngest PhD in Azerbaijan SSR. In 1950-1951, Kocharli worked as a teacher in Quba Pedagogical Institute, in 1952-1953 as the dean in Aghdam Pedagogical Institute, in 1953-1956 as a professor and

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

in Ganja Pedagogical University.

Career

From 1957 until 1965, he was the senior scientific researcher at Communist Party History Institute under Azerbaijan Central Committee of the Communist Party. In 1965, he was appointed dean of Baku Higher Party School and in June 1972 - its

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. In 1990-1991, he worked as the senior lecturer at the same school. Since 1981, Kocharli was a correspondent member and from 1989, permanent member of

. In 1993-2001, he served as the scientific researcher of Social Political Research Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and from 2002 until his death in 2007 he was the senior scientific researcher of the Archeology and Ethnography Institute of the academy. Kocharli has extensively researched issues related to the

history of Azerbaijan The history of Azerbaijan is understood as the history of the region now forming the Republic of Azerbaijan. Topographically, the land is contained by the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains in the north, the Caspian Sea in the east, and t ...

and published many books, monographs, over 120 scientific articles on the subject. Four of his books were published abroad. Among his contributions is research on

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...

and Nakhchivan. He served as deputy to Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR and was a member of Azerbaijan National Council in 1992. He was also a member of Azerbaijan parliamentary commission for investigation of

Black January Black January ( az, Qara Yanvar), also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, was a violent crackdown on the civilian population of Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet U ...

massacre. He has been awarded with

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

and many other medals and orders of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

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 ...

. In 2009 a book "Ruhla söhbət" (in Russian, translated "Open Conversation") was written by Professor Rafig Aliyev about the life and contributions of Tofig Kocharli. Most of the information was from his memoirs and his daughter Irada Kocharli. He left behind 6 children and 12 grandchildren.

Works

*"История Азербайджана". ("History of Azerbaijan) Volume 3, Part 1 (Chapter XXVII 6, 4, 5) Baku, 1963 *"Великий подвиг". ("Great act of bravery") Baku, 1965 *"История КПСС". ("History of CPSS) Volume 4, Book I (Chapters 10 & 3) Moscow, 1970 *"История КПСС". ("History of CPSS) Volume 4, Book II (Chapters 17 & 2) Moscow, 1971 *"Tarixi saxtalaşdırmalar əleyhinə". ("Against historical falsifications") Baku, 1972 *"Bəli, Yalan üzərində sülh olmaz". ("Affirmative: no peace based on lies") Baku, 1997 *"İstiqlal və suverenlik". ("Independence and sovereignty") Baku, 1998 *"Qarabağ: yalan və həqiqət". ("Karabakh: lies and truth") Baku, 1998 *"Yaddan çıxmaz Qarabağ". ("Unforgettable Karabakh"), Naghshijahan, Nakhchivan. Baku 1998 *"Карабахское ханство и российская империя". ("

Karabakh Khanate The Karabakh Khanate was a semi-independent Turkic peoples, Turkic Khanates of the Caucasus, Caucasian khanate on the territories of modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan established in about 1748 under Safavid dynasty, Iranian suzerainty in Karaba ...

and

Russian Empire 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. ...

") Moscow, 2000 *"Erməni saxtakarlığı". ("Armenian falsifications") Baku, 2001 *"Qarabağ". ("Karabakh") Baku, 2002 *"Məqalələr". ("Articles") Baku, 2003-2004 *"Armenian Deception". Baku, 2004 *"Naxçivan: Uydurmalar və Tarixi Həqiqətlər". ("Nakhchivan: Myths and Historical Truth") Baku, 2005 *"К истории Карабахского вопроса". ("Towards the history of Karabakh conflict") Baku, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocharli, Tofig 1929 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Azerbaijani historians 21st-century Azerbaijani historians People from Gadabay District Baku State University alumni Moscow State University alumni Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Azerbaijani historians Soviet historians