“I have known Heydar Aliyev for a long time. He wanted to be an artist since his school days. This was his dream. This was not without reason. His brother Huseyn Aliyev was a people’s artist. His nephew Rasim Aliyev was the chief architect of Baku for many years. This is where his love for painting came from. He always went to exhibitions, he liked to talk with artists, he knew all the artists closely, he was interested in them, he valued them very much.”
People’s artist Omer Eldarov’s memories of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev Publika.azshared with
– Omer Bey, how do you remember the Great Leader?
– He was a very simple and sincere person. In his non-working hours, he liked to talk and laugh. According to the decision of the Supreme Soviet during the Soviet era, whoever received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor twice, his bust should be erected. This decision has already created a compulsion to erect a bust of Heydar Aliyev. In the decision, the material and dimensions of the bust to be erected were mentioned based on the standards. This bust should have been placed where Heydar Aliyev was born.
– As far as I know, Heydar Aliyev was in Moscow at that time. How did you make the bust?
– Yes, he was in Moscow at that time. He was offered by many sculptors. However, he said that my bust will be made by an Azerbaijani sculptor. Then he called my name. I have always been very proud of that. They invited me, I went to Moscow. There I worked for two hours in Reshetnikov’s workshop. Heydar Aliyev used to sit first. I asked, I said that when a person is sitting, the sukh gamat does not look good. You need to stand for a good view. He also stood up.
The statue was to be erected in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. I was saying that we should place the bust some distance from Momina Khatun square, and the landscape should be visible in the background. However, Heydar Aliyev’s assistant suggested that the statue should be in the middle of the park in front of the central street. Heydar Aliyev asked us, “What do you advise?” I also said that it is better if it is raised slightly inside rather than the entrance part. He confirmed the place I had chosen, and the statue was erected there.
– What were you talking about with Heydar Aliyev?
– We had many conversations. He said his interesting ideas about artists and works. I am old now, my memory is weak. But we had many conversations. He was a talkative person.
– So how did you make the statue of Mrs. Zarifa?
– The loss of Mrs. Zarifa had a very bad effect on Heydar Aliyev. When he passed away, Heydar Aliyev called me to Moscow. It was very sad. He could not come to terms with the death of Mrs. Zarifa. He could not speak, his condition was bad. He said that they gave me many suggestions about who should make the statue. “I told them to let our Azerbaijani sculptor make it. I want you to prepare.” I prepared it with great pleasure. Whenever he was displeased with something, he said it immediately. I was also correcting. For the first time, I made the statue from marble. Mrs. Zarifa’s funeral took place in Moscow. We decided to make the statue out of white marble. Then, when he came to Baku, Heydar Aliyev said that the statue should be brought to Baku. I told Heydar Aliyev that marble is a very delicate material. There are so many people who don’t want you. If they throw something, it will be damaged. We made a mechanical copy from bronze. Tunca is nothing. Let’s make it out of bronze, so bad people can’t do anything. The marble version of this work “Elegy” is currently exhibited in the Azerbaijan State Art Museum.
When Omar Eldarov talked about Heydar Aliyev, his eyes teared up, he tried to remember those days as they were. As he himself said, although the age is not that old, the artist always remembers the Great Leader with beautiful and pleasant memories. Teacher Omar says that even Heydar Aliyev is difficult to come to this world. He was truly a leader who loved his people and was loved by the people.
Nazrin Javadzadeh
The article was prepared with the financial support of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (MEDIA) in the direction of “Promoting the idea of Azerbaijanism – “Year of Heydar Aliyev”.
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