Firidun bey Ahmadagha oglu Kocharli was born on January 26, 1863 in Shusha. In 1872, Mirza Karim entered the school of Munshizadeh and learned Persian language. In 1875, his teacher put him in a Russian school. Then, as a result of a pleasant coincidence, he met with Alexei Osipovic Chernyayevsky. Firidun bey Kocherli entered the preparatory department of Gori Seminar in 1879 and graduated in 1885.

He was invited to work at the Gori Teachers Seminar in 1895, taught the Sharia and Native Language lessons, and taught the children the creative works of prominent Azerbaijani literature in these lessons. He was the first systematic researcher of the history of Azerbaijan literature. His work in Russian and published in Tbilisi in 1903, “The Literature of Azerbaijani Tatars” is the first source in the creation of national literature history. The “Literature of the Azerbaijani Turks” (1908), which is an improved version of this work in the Azerbaijani language, completely covers our national literature history. This work was published for the first time after the death of Firidun bey in two volumes, entitled “Historical Materials of Azerbaijani Literature” (1925-1926). His book “Gift to children” (1912), his fundamental works “History of Azerbaijan Literature” are deep research works enriching our pedagogical and literary thinking.

After Sultan Majid Ganizade, Firidun bey Kocharli was appointed as an inspector for the Azerbaijani branch of Gori Teachers’ Seminary. He had been teaching at Yerevan Gymnasium for 10 years. He wrote articles about education during his life in Yerevan together with Zohrabzadeh wrote a textbook titled “Telimi lisani-turki”, and published his philosophical work called “Instruction of Socrates” (1891). He was one of the pioneers in the struggle for the transfer of the Azerbaijani branch of the seminary to Azerbaijan. He achieved his goal in 1918 and directly carried out the resettlement of the department to Kazakh. As director of the Gazakh Seminary, he did not consider his work to be finished, set up courses for elderly persons, set up an orphanage, and created a fund for refugees.

The great enlightener Firidun bey Kocharli, who was ready for any sacrifice for the sake of his people’s liberation, was killed by the Armenian nationalists in Ganja in 1920.

Source: Misir Mardanov. History of Azerbaijan’s education. “Education” publishing house, 2011. Baku, vol. I, 295 p.

©All rights are reserved. Citing to www.imm.az is necessary upon using news.