By Vestnik Kavkaza
Continuation. Previous part: http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/society/38532.html
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 who became rich during the oil boom, very personal writing, showing a great understanding of what was happening on the part of the author.
Life in the Caucasus in those days was incomparably better than in Russia, where severe famine prevailed. The Caucasian nature was never stingy with gifts; moreover, during the revolutionary years industries kept on working in Baku. The lack of vehicles hindered the export of products, and therefore the goods remained in Azerbaijan, causing prosperity. There was no "prohibition" in Azerbaijan, unlike in Russia. Vodka was sold everywhere, some people even bought it for resale in other cities of Russia. It made some people rich and brought others to prison.
A Russian from the North regarded the Caucasus in a similar way that the French regarded Morocco. For them it was a mysterious, remote and very beautiful country. No wonder the Russian poets created poems dedicated to the haughty mountains, beautiful women and unusual customs of the Caucasus. This region has a special charm and appeal, which is immediately felt by all Russians who have taste and a particular spirituality. Soon the 14-year-old Umm el-Banu met the 40-year-old Gregory Tarasov. He had become a professional historian and worked as a propagandist of Communist lyrics. Gregory tried to introduce the girl to the ideas of communism. She started to swear by Karl Marx and historical materialism, work in the inventory commission, making lists of the property of surrounding houses, and wear a badge with a portrait of Lenin. "What have you put on? A portrait of a man? Are you not ashamed? It is not enough for you to walk among people with open faces, but you even put on portraits of men? Who is it?" the neighbors asked indignantly. "It is their boss. He made me do it," Umm al-Bani sighed, imitating sorrow.
It was not hard to propagate communism in Baku. Even though it was one of the richest cities in the world in the field of transport, water and sanitation, there were serious shortcomings. Workers lived in poverty and could not fight for their rights. Once they presented their request to Asadullayev, an oil magnate, to provide them with soap, to increase their salaries and to treat them nicely. The grandfather of Umm el-Banu decided to meet only one of their requests. "Treat them nicely," he instructed his assistants.
The difference between the rich and the poor was very noticeable in Baku. The communists immediately modernized transport: they laid railtracks in the city and a revolutionary tram, painted red. In addition, the new authorities launched educational programs for women, hoping that by experiencing the benefits of culture, they would renounce purdahs themselves. A national conservatory was even created for Muslim women. There were courses of singing, music and dance. Umm al-Bani was invited to work there. "At first, I was puzzled by how I would explain to the women the basics of music, because I was educated in Russian and my students did not know this language. It was hard to translate theoretical knowledge into the native language and I decided to conduct practical classes, not by talking, but by demonstrating: I played the scales and, without any explanations, asked the women to repeat it," Banin wrote.
Once, officials from the People's Commissariat of Education and some other officials came to inspect the work of the cultural institution. They became interested in the skills that Muslim women received in the field of arts and music education. Umm el-Banu performed the "Internationale" in front of them. When she finished, she stood up and turned to face the room when she saw one of her acquaintances. It was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council, Andrei Masarin. The girl had fallen in love with him, when she was still living in a country house and "serving the revolutionary cause" by composing property inventories of neighboring houses. Romantic Umm el-Banu identified him with a character from War and Peace, Andrei Bolkonsky.
To the great joy of the future writer, Andrei invited her for a visit. He lived in Pushkin Street. Slowly, a romantic relationship developed between them, but the love was purely platonic. Soon, Andrei invited her to go with him: "I have to be in Moscow at a two-week party congress. Then I will come back here for a few days, and together we'll leave for Kiev. Do you agree?" Umm el-Banu decided to stay, because she still had to rescue her father from prison.
The red-haired Jamil promised to help her with it. He was on friendly terms with a commissioner. In return for his help, Jamil asked Umm el-Banu to marry him, even though she was 20 years younger. "How I hated his red hair! There were wild stories, bad rumors about such people. According to the legend, a red-haired child brings misfortune to a house. Therefore, the people hated redheads, considering them to be harbingers of misfortunes. People thought that redheads were accomplices of the devil and witches," Banin wrote. However, Jamil fulfilled his promise and Umm al-Banu had to fulfil her own. She felt like a bargaining chip in the deal, like a sacrificial lamb. Jamil was glad that he had married the heiress to the richest man in Baku. He did not care that the property of the "heiress" was just a glimpse of memory, since he treasured this memory. Jamil considered Bolshevism an accident and believed that the bankruptcy of the Asadullaevs was temporary and recoverable. He perceived his wife not as a person, but as a representative of a noble and wealthy family.
Immediately after the wedding, they decided to travel to Tbilisi, and from there – to travel abroad.
To be continued
