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  • 18 Ramaḍan 1445
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MUSLIM RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION
SPIRITUAL EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

BOLGAR ISLAMIC ACADEMY

Hasan bey Zardabi (Melikov) was an Azerbaijani public figure, educator, and publicist.

He was born on June 28, 1837 in Zardab village, Geokchay district, Baku province. Having received his primary education at an Islamic religious school, he studied at district schools in Shamakhi and Tiflis. In 1861-1865, he studied at the Faculty of Nature and Mathematics of Moscow University, and was the first Azerbaijani graduate. Since 1865, Zardabi was an employee of the Tiflis Land Survey Chamber, and since 1869, a teacher of natural history at the Baku Real Gymnasium. He is known as the editor of the first Azerbaijani newspaper Ekinchi (1875), the purpose of which was to disseminate knowledge in the field of agriculture (on the latest methods of soil fertilization, the use of improved agricultural tools, etc.) and medicine (hygiene and physiology).

In 1880, Zardabi returned to his native village, where he continued his educational activities among the local population. In 1896, he left for Baku, worked as a member of the City Duma, where he advocated the rights of working people and the disadvantaged masses, called for education, culture, hygiene, and raised acute political, social, and environmental issues. Since 1898, Zardabi became Alimardan bey Topchubashov’s de facto co-editor of the Kaspiy newspaper. He died on November 28, 1907 in Baku.