On November 15, a scientific seminar “Fighter for Freedom” was held at Sumgayit State University, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the well-known publicist, critic, lawyer and orientalist Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu.

At the beginning, the participants of the event got acquainted with the exhibition of the scientist"s works in the lobby of the university.

The seminar was opened by the university rector Professor Elkhan Huseynov. He said that the event is held in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On the 150th anniversary of Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu” and the Action Plan of the Ministry of Education. The rector spoke about the life path of the great enlightener, his selfless struggle for the freedom of the people and activity as a scientist. He noted that Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu was a patriot and was always in the ranks of the fighters for the national liberation movement, he was a consistent supporter of the policy of modernization in the entire Muslim East. In all the works of the scientist, a special place is occupied by questions of peace and security.

Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu was born in 1869 in Shusha, and received education in France. In 1896, he opened the first library and reading room in Shusha.

In 1897, at the invitation of H.Z. Taghiyev, he arrived in Baku and published a number of his articles in the “Caspian” newspaper. Also, together with Ali bey Huseynzade, he founded the newspaper “Hayat” (“Life”) and became its editor. In 1905, Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu organized the secret organization "Difai" ("Defense"), directed against the tsarist government and the Armenian Dashnaks. He was a member of the parliament of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and was a member of the delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.

After the fall of the ADR, he, like many of our compatriots, could not return to his homeland.

Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu was elected as a deputy of the second and third convocations of the Turkish Grand National Majlis, and then became political adviser to Mustafa Kamal Ataturk on foreign affairs. By the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated May 7, 2019, the works of the scientist were included in the list of authors whose works were declared public property of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

It was noted that in 2019, in the SSU, according to the orders of President Ilham Aliyev, the 135th anniversary of the poet and playwright Huseyn Javid, the 110th anniversary of the national writer Mir Jalal Pashayev, the 110th anniversary of Hamid Arasli and the 650th anniversary of Imadeddin Nasimi were celebrated.

Afterwards the speakers delivered report in the event: Nemat Ibayev, senior lecturer of the Department of Azerbaijani language and its teaching methods, with a report “Aghaoghlu’s socio-political activities on the path of youth enlightenment”, Javid Mamiyev, associate professor of Department of philosophy, sociology and political science, with a report “Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu’s Turkic meetings”. The scientific secretary of the National Azerbaijan Historical Museum of ANAS, PhD in history Farhad Jabbarov delivered speech.

Speakers spoke about the difficult life path of Ahmed bey Aghaoghlu and voiced the facts related to the scientist’s activities in the field of promoting Turkic culture, the history of Islam, and raising national identity.

In the end the sketch “In the country of free humans” was performed by the students.