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tary Commissar of the Azerbaijani infantry division and the Chairman of Military
Tribunal of the 11th Red Army. In 1921-1930, Baghirov was heading the Azerbaijani
Extraordinary Commission (Cheka), the Main Political Division (GPU), the People’s
Commissariat for Internal Affairs. He was also holding position of Deputy Chairman
of Council of People’s Commissars (the Soviet name for the Cabinet of Ministers) of
the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan (except for the period of 1927-1929 when
he was involved in purely economic activities) to be promoted to the Chairman of
the Council of People’s Commissars in 1932. On December 15, 1933 M.Baghirov was
elected the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Socialist Republic
of Azerbaijan and the Baku Municipal Committee of the Communist Party. By 1940,
dozens of thousands Azerbaijanis were executed in the course of the Stalin purges
conducted by M.Baghirov in Azerbaijan. A member of the Central Committee of
the Communist Party in 1937-1953 (nominated in 1934), probationary member of
the Presidium of the Central Committee (the top Communist Party elite) as since
March 6 to July 7, 1953, Baghirov was also holding the post of the Chairman of the
Council of Ministers of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan in April-August
1953. Upon Beria’s arrest at the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union in July 1953, despite the long-time friendship,
Baghirov cracked down on Beria. Nonetheless, on March 13, 1954, following the
resolution of the Committee of the Party Control at the Central Committee of the
CPSU he was read out of the Party and eased out of the membership of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party. Arrest followed immediately. On April 26, 1956,
M.Baghirov was sentenced to death found guilty in ‘the violation of socialist legality’
and complicity with Beria. The Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee upheld
this verdict on May 7, 1956. The appeal for pardon was dismissed by the Presidium
of the USSR Supreme Soviet on May 12, 1956. The sentence was executed on May
26, 1956.
35Estman Eduard Lyudvigovich, Assistant Justice of the Peace, Head of the
Investigation Precinct of Guba Uyezd, one of the officials who stayed in Guba during
the retreat of Ghelovani’s units, dismissed on July 1, 1918 pursuant to the resolution
of the Government of Azerbaijan passed on June 24, 1918. No further information
available.
36Japaridze Prokopy (Alesha) Apraxionovich (1880-1918), a recognized
Bolshevik activist, a member of the Baku Committee of the Russian Social Demo-
cratic Workers Party and the Baku Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies. In July
1917, Japaridze was delegated to the 6th Congress of RSRWP from the Baku Bol-
shevik outlet. In September 1917, he was managing the general strike of Baku’s oil
industry workers. Since December 1917, Japaridze became the Deputy Chairman of
the Baku Soviet’s Executive Committee, promoted to the position of the Chairman
as of January 1918. In March 1918, Japaridze was introduced to the the Committee
of Revolutionary Defense, the supreme military and political body of the Bolshe-
vik Party. While supporting the fight of the Bolshevik and Dashnaktsutyun alliance
against the Azerbaijani national forces, Japaridze nonetheless took certain steps to
prevent the bloodshed and massacre of the civilian Muslim population. Upon de-
mise of the Soviet regime in Baku in July 1918 he was arrested by the government
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