By Vestnik Kavkaza
Banin's memoir is a bright piece of the literary mosaic of the Parisian exile. The style of the memoir is similar to the books of the wife of Georgy Ivanov, Irina Odoetseva "On the banks of the Neva River" and "On the Banks of the Seine River." They both wrote about Parisian émigré circles and about their youth. The youth of Odoetseva took place on the Neva River, and the youth of Banin - on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Banin was friends with Teffi, she knew Remizov, Merezhkovsky, Gippius, Lossky and Berdyaev, Ivan Bunin was even in love with her. The most interesting part of her memoir is the description of her time spent in the Caucasus. An autobiographical book by Banin with the same title, published right after the Second World War, is imbued with satire and self-irony. It is a kind of encyclopedia of the life of residents of Baku, which became rich during the oil boom, very personal writing, showing a great understanding of what was happening by the author.
The Asadullayevs spent six months in in the Iranian town of Anzali and then moved to Resht, a small town. Soon local patriots headed by Kuchuk-khan excited a riot against Englishmen, and the war exploded. Patriots wore long beards – they swore not to cut them till the aggressor was in their country. The town was bombed; shooting was heard on the streets. In Iran women were enfolded in paranja from head to toe; the Baku children of freedom couldn’t get used to it. It was required to only show the eyes . In Baku these blankets were at least colorful. In Iran everybody wore black paranjas. Umm el-Banu thought that fleets of crowns were everywhere. The other headache of the Asadulayevs was that they had to keep in secret the fact that Amina was a Sunni.
At last the family found out that the Ottoman Turks had captured Baku and put everything in order – criminals and wreckers were hanged every day. In one of the city parks there was a gallows on which dead bodies were shaken by the wind. This measure gave great results: violence, robberies, and other crimes soon stopped. The Turks who came to the Caucasus punished the Armenians, of course. Once again common people became a victim of nationalists. Luckily, the Armenian neighbors who hid the Assadulayevs stayed safe.
Soon the Turkish occupation was changed by the British one. Turkey, Germany’s ally, collapsed and withdrew. British victors quickly came to the rich oil land. Asadulayev’s house became a place of British officers meetings. Baku was changing rapidly; the European lifestyle came back. Father was interested in politics very much. Everybody was discussing freedom, independence, prosperity of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Karelia, Turkestan…
Some time later the British left the Caucasus, and the wonderful city of minarets and oil towers, Baku, became a capital of the independent Azerbaijani republic. A parliament of the new republic was established. The number of parties was almost equal to the number of MPs. The republic began to found its own army. Beautiful speeches of patriotism and excitement were heard. In Geneva the Republic and its rights were recognized. The new Azerbaijani Republic was headed by the Cabinet of Ministers and elected a president. Father was appointed the minister of trade. Two soldiers secured Asadulayev’s house from now on.
“Baku was a nationalistic and even chauvinistic city. In general the capital of a new independent state has to be like that,” Banin wrote. Some parties emphasized traditions, other demanded “equality and emancipation.” The last were supporters of female education and participation of women in social life.
Life was boiling in the young capital. Many Russian citizens left the motherland and moved to Baku to wait out the revolution. They were sure that soon Bolsheviks would disappear and everything would calm down. People were thoughtless and cheerful. Home parties were permanent in Assadulayev’s house. Girls fell in love into a Russian musician, a young man from the Baltic Region, a Swedish engineer, a Russian colonel. Meanwhile, the rumors spread that after the end of the Civil War the Caucasus would be captured by Bolsheviks. Amina, little son, and two sisters left to Paris. Grandfather Musa died and left huge heritage to his four granddaughters.
Thus, when Umm el-Banu was 13, she got untold wealth. But she possessed it only for few days – once Baku residents were woken up by sounds of “International.” At midnight the revolutionary combat train crossed the border of the Azerbaijani Republic and carried soldiers of the Eleventh Red Army to the sleepy city. The National Army of Azerbaijan withdrew without a shot. The Republic collapsed. Azerbaijan returned to the Russian Empire which was wearing a new Soviet ideological dress.
Capitalism failed. Father was puzzled. Nobody wanted to believe in their poverty. Father didn’t go outside because he was afraid for his life. There was neither parliament nor deputies. Father didn’t transfer his accounts to foreign banks, didn’t left Baku in a due time. He was arrested. The minister, a wealthy man, the head of the opposition party couldn’t be ignored by the new authorities. A special commission decided that Assadulayev’s house was too big for one family, and several other families were settled into their apartments.
To be continued
