Major General, Orientalist scholar, and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Mahammad Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh was born on March 15, 1865, in Goychay District. He is originally from the famous Aghabeylilar family of Salyan District. Mahammad Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh received his secondary education at the Baku Real School. After graduating from the Baku Real School in 1883, he continued his education at the Petersburg Military Infantry and Artillery School that same year. Upon graduation from military school in 1886, he began serving in the Caucasus at the Kars-Alexandropol fortress, receiving the rank of podporuchik (a military rank in the Tsarist army typically corresponding to second lieutenant). Promoted to poruchik (lieutenant) in 1888, Aghabeyzadeh was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd degree, in 1893. In 1894, Mahammad Sadig Bey was awarded the rank of junior captain. In 1896, he entered the Training Department of Oriental Languages at the Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. He studied Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Tatar languages, French literature, and Islamic law there.

In 1898, M. S. Aghabeyzadeh was sent to the Turkestan province to continue his military service. In 1899, Mahammad Sadig Bey promoted to captain, was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree. In 1901, he was appointed assistant to the district chief of Ashgabat. Aghabeyzadeh, who fulfilled his duty in Turkestan with honor, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1904. While working there, Mahammad Sadig Bey became interested in the people's daily life and customs, collected proverbs and sayings, and in 1904 published a 135-page textbook on the dialect of the Turkmen language in Russian in Ashgabat. This work by Mahammad Sadig Bey, describing the Turkmen language and its folklore, was highly appreciated by the Emir of Bukhara, Said 'Abd al-Ahad Khan, and awarded with the Order of the "Golden Star". Aghabeyzadeh was awarded the rank of colonel in 1908 and general in 1913 for his services to the tsarist government, resigned due to ill health, and returned to Goychay that same year. The First World War, which broke out in 1914, changed M.S. Aghabeyzadeh's plans and he volunteered to go to war. He participated in battles on the Caucasian and Ukrainian fronts. He was discharged from the army after 2 years due to health reasons.

In 1918, Mahammad Sadig Bey joyfully welcomed the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The national government led by F. Khoyski appointed General Agabeyzadeh as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. During his tenure as deputy, he rendered important services in the formation and development of the legal framework of the Azerbaijani police system. He opened a school for training police officers in Icherisheher, Baku. On January 23, 1920, Mahammad Sadig Bey retired and in April 1920 went to Batumi for treatment. Unable to return to avoid the bitter fate of other Azerbaijani generals during the fall of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Sadig Bey went to Istanbul to his cousin Ali bey Huseynzade. After some time, he had to leave Istanbul and go to Paris and then to Nice, located in the south of France, where he had to live a difficult life as an immigrant.

From 1926 to 1927, Poland’s interest in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian languages increased. The need arose to teach the history of Islamic civilization and Arabic languages at the Jan Casimir Lviv University (now named after Ivan Franko), founded in 1661. However, no teacher in Poland could cope with this responsible task. In 1926, Professor Zygmunt Smogorzewski invited M.S. Aghabeyzadeh to the University of Lviv to teach Oriental languages as a professor. He began teaching Oriental languages there and at the Lviv Academy of Commerce, and studied Polish and Ukrainian. Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh, taking into account the lack of knowledge of European languages among Polish students, wrote the first book on Turkish grammar in Polish. The first part of the textbook is 113 pages, and the second part is 85 pages. Following this, M. S. Aghabeyzadeh wrote a new textbook, "Grammar of the Persian Language," in 1930, consisting of 123 pages in Polish. In 1934, the third Polish textbook by Mahammad Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh, "Elementary Grammar of the Arabic Language," was published. Aghabeyzadeh, Zygmunt Smogorzewski, and W.Kotwicz directly participated in organizing the Oriental Studies School. He taught at Lviv University for 17 years. Mahammad Sadig Bey rendered invaluable services by helping hundreds of young people master Eastern languages and raising a new generation of Oriental scholars and translators. Sadig Bey was seriously engaged in teaching and promoting Islamic studies in Ukraine and was one of the founders of the Department of Oriental Studies at Lviv University.

Sadig bey Aghabeyzadeh, a highly influential figure in Ukraine, was oppressed by the German-fascist invaders during the Great Patriotic War. The respected scholar was removed from his home and accommodated in a basement-type house with no amenities. In late 1942, his right hand became paralyzed. At this time, M.S. Aghabeyzadeh was left in the care of his beloved students Olga Bak and her husband, Tadeusz Lewicki, Severina Vilkoshinskaya, Teodozi Krulyova, renowned orientalist scholars. Aghabeyzadeh died on November 9, 1944, in Lviv, Ukraine, leaving his last words to his student Tadeusz Leviski. Tadeusz Leviski buried him by Muslim rites at the Lychakiv Cemetery.

The tombstone of the famous scientist was restored and erected in 2017 at the initiative of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Ukraine and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The well-known sculptor and Ukraine’s People's Artist Seyfaddin Gurbanov made the tombstone. One of the streets in Lviv, Ukraine, is named after Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh.

Although Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh lived in a foreign land away from his homeland, he consistently promoted Turkic languages, Islam, and Azerbaijan, instilling a love for these among his students. The tombstone of the distinguished military figure and Orientalist scholar Mahammad Sadig Bey Aghabeyzadeh, who honored the name of Azerbaijan, is respectfully commemorated by Azerbaijanis and other nations in Ukraine.

Recommended literature:

1. Əliyarlı, İltifat Musa oğlu. Azərbaycan Polisinin yaranması və təşəkkülü tarixindən: 1918-1920-ci illər: qısa tarixi tədqiqat / İ. M. Əliyarlı; elmi red. Ş. Qasımov.- Bakı: Mütərcim, 2018.- 128 s.
2. Süleymanov, Mehman Sirac oğlu. Azərbaycan Ordusunun tarixi / M. S. Süleymanov; elmi red.: A. Ə. Paşayev, P. Q. Darabadi; Azərbaycan Respublikası Silahlı Qüvvələrinin Hərbi Akademiyası. II cild: noyabr 1918 - aprel 1920.- Bakı: Maarif, 2018.- 725 s.
3. Nəzirli, Şəmistan Əmiraslan oğlu. Azərbaycan generalları / Ş. Ə. Nəzirli; red. T. Muxtarova.- Bakı: Gənclik, 1991.- 204 s.