Who was Azim Azimzade? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Азимзаде, Азим Аслан оглы

Died At Age: 63

Cartoonists Azerbaijani Men

Died on: June 15, 1943

place of death: Baku

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Childhood & Early Life

Azimzade was born as Azim Aslan oglu Azimzade on May 7, 1880, in Novkhani village, Absheron peninsula, close to Baku, in a Karbalayi Aslan family.

His father, Aslan, was a stone cutter and farmer, but switched to oil industry after it started booming.

He was admitted into a madrasa, a local Muslim school, at the age of eight, but he started making drawings instead of reciting his Quran lessons, which is considered a sinful deed, and hence was beaten up by his father.

He was enrolled into a Russian-Tatar school, with the support of his grandmother. However, due to his father’s pressure of pursuing a job, he only completed primary education and did not study further.

At the age of 15, he went to work in a mill, owned by Aghabala Guliyev, where he came across Russian painter Durov, who encouraged him to study fine arts. But due to lack of money, he failed to get any formal education in arts.

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Career

He took up freelancing to pursue a career in arts and sent his drawing ‘Irshad’s Client’ to the newly-launched, Molla Nasraddin, by writer-democrat Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, in 1906. The drawing was published in the magazine.

He contributed regularly to the magazine and also started sending his compositions to other magazines in Baku - some being Baraban (Drum), Bij (Trickster), Mezeli (Funny), Kelniyyet, and Babayi-Amir.

He focused mainly on caricatures and satirical drawings inspired from everyday events, but later expanded in other areas of fine arts, namely, book illustrations, stage design, and newspaper and magazine graphics during 1920s and 1930s.

His major breakthrough came in 1920 when he was appointed as head of the art department at the Republic’s Education Commissariat. Thereafter, he became the chief artist of Communist, the most popular Azeri newspaper, in 1922.

From 1922 onwards, Molla Nasraddin magazine’s edition was a renewed and that led to a productive collaboration of Mammadguluzadeh and Azimzade. Eventually, he became the magazine’s chief artist.

In 1923, he was appointed as chief artist of State Theater during the 50th Jubilee celebrations of Dramatic Works and began organizing set designs of various legendary works, like ‘Othello’, ‘Nadir Shah’, ‘Haji Gara’, and ‘Leyli and Majnun’.

During the 1930s, he started exhibiting the religious traditions and old customs of Azerbaijan on the canvas, which became his most profitable period. His notable works were ‘Tight-Rope Walker’, ‘Dog Fight’, ‘Kos-Kosa’, and ‘Old Baku’.

His cartoons were a representation of culture, poverty, and societal issues faced by men and women, which included ‘Wealthy Wedding’ and ‘Poor Wedding’ in 1931 and ‘Ramazan of the Rich’ and ‘Ramazan of the Poor’ in 1938.

He composed drawings on the themes of women’s lives and their rights, such as ‘Division of Property’ (1935), ‘The Old Wife and the New One’ (1935), ‘Husband Beating his Wife’ (1937), and ‘A Daughter is Born’ (1937).

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In 1937, he composed the ‘100 Type’ series, as a compilation of 10 horizontal drawings each containing 10 images, depicting the common man he encountered on streets, markets, and offices in Baku.

He held his first exhibition in Baku, in 1940, and displayed around 1200 works, created over a period of 35 years. Thereafter, he organized exhibitions in Yerevan and Moscow as well.

Some of his outstanding drawings included ‘Trumped Cards’, ‘Trophies of Fuhrer’, ‘Shadows of Barbarians’, ‘Face of Fascism’, ‘Watchdogs of Imperialism’, ‘Lion and Kitten’, and ‘Wolf to Wolf’.

Major Works

His 56 colored illustrations for the anthologies of Azerbaijani poet, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, titled ‘Hop-hop Name’ for the 1915 and 1922 editions, became one of his most memorable works.

Awards & Achievements

In 1927, he became the first artist to receive the honorary title of ‘People’s Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR’.

Personal Life & Career

After his son, Latif, died during the World War II in February 1943, he broke down and wasn’t able to recover. Thereafter, he suffered a heart attack and died four months later on June 15, 1943, in Baku.

The Azerbaijan State Art School in Baku, which he directed during 1932-37, was named after him.

A street in Baku bears his name, while the first house museum opened in Azerbaijan, at Dilara Aliyeva Street, is dedicated to his life and works.

Famous sculptor, Omar Eldarov, created his monument in 2002 which stands near Heydar Aliyev Palace, in Icheri Sheher, Baku.

Trivia

Some of his famous students were Sattar Bahlulzadeh, Maral Rahmanzadeh, Alekber Rzaguliyev, and Mikayil Abdullayev

Azim Azimzade Biography