Politician and statesman, scholar-publicist Alimardan bey Alekper oglu Topchubashev was born on May 4, 1862 in Tbilisi. He received his first education at the 1st Tbilisi Gymnasium. In 1884 he successfully graduated from high school and entered the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. However, after the first semester, he transferred to the Faculty of Law. In 1888 he graduated with honors from the university and received the title of candidate of legal sciences.

After university, A. Topchubashev worked as an assistant judge, a lawyer in Tbilisi, and a publicist in Baku. In 1898, he bought the Caspian newspaper and headed it. Engaged in education, he covered theatrical life and promoted Azerbaijani literature, edited the Russian-language newspaper Baku Commercial and Industrial List. At the beginning of the 20th century, he was elected to the Baku City Duma, and later became its chairman. On August 15, 1905, he convened the "All-Russian Muslim Congress" on the ship "Gustav Struve" on the Oka River. The very center of the Muslim Congress was in Baku. Topchubashev was elected chairman of the center. At the congress, he called on all Russian Muslims to unite. In 1907 he was elected to the State Duma of Russia from the Baku District. In the Duma, he joined the People's Will faction, which demanded autonomy for all the small peoples of Russia. Speaking in the Duma, Topchubashev sharply criticized the capitalist policy of Russia. During these years, he was included in the "black list" of the tsarist government and taken under the tacit control of the police.

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed on May 28, 1918. The merits of Alimardan Bey in promoting the newly formed independent Republic of Azerbaijan throughout the world were invaluable. On June 17, 1918, in the second government organized by F. K. Khoysky in Ganja, A. Topchubashev first held the post of minister without portfolio, and from August 20 - minister of foreign affairs. On August 23, Topchubashev left for Istanbul as the Extraordinary Envoy and competent Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan. However, for reasons beyond his control, he was delayed on the road and was forced to stop in Tiflis and Batum, and was able to leave for Istanbul only on September 28. He began active diplomatic activity as soon as he arrived in Istanbul. From October 2, 1918 to January 16, 1919, he held 36 official meetings and negotiations in Istanbul. Also, in addition to his main duties, Topchubashev published a book in Istanbul about the events that took place in Azerbaijan.

On December 7, 1918 in Baku, in a solemn atmosphere, the work of the first session of the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan began. At the suggestion of M.A. Rasulzade, Alimardan Bey who was in Istanbul at that time, was elected chairman of the parliament in absentia. Since the chairman was not in Azerbaijan at that time, the affairs of the parliament were led by Hasan-bek Agayev, who was elected his first deputy.

On December 28 of the same year, A. Topchubashev was appointed chairman of the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the Paris Peace Conference and went straight from Istanbul to Paris.

The intensive diplomatic meetings and negotiations conducted by the delegation that arrived in Paris in the first decade of May 1919 finally began to bear fruit. At the initiative of US President W. Wilson, the issue of Azerbaijan was put on the agenda at the level of the heads of state of England, France and Italy, as well as at a meeting where President Wilson recognized A. Topchubashev as the head of the Azerbaijani delegation, and Azerbaijan's participation in the Paris Peace Conference was accepted . On May 28, 1919, on the day of the first anniversary of the formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, US President W. Wilson, received the Azerbaijani delegation headed by Topchubashev.

On January 11, members of the Supreme Council and allied states announced the de facto recognition of Azerbaijan. During the conference, the delegation led by A. Topchubashev made exceptional efforts to popularize Azerbaijan. As a result, on January 15, 1920, the Azerbaijani delegation was invited to the French Foreign Ministry and A. Topchubashev was given an official document of the Paris Peace Conference.

The recognition of our independence was a great victory for the Azerbaijani delegation led by A. Topchubashev. Topchubashev, who remained in Paris after the April invasion and was forced to live as an emigrant, did not stop his political activities, despite the protests of the Soviet delegation. With a mandate given to him by the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, he participated in November 1920 at the Geneva meeting of the League of Nations, in 1920 in London and Genoa, in 1923 at the Lausanne conferences. He gave extensive information about the occupation of Azerbaijan by Bolshevik Russia and the crimes committed by the Bolsheviks in Azerbaijan.

A. Topchubashev tried to connect his political activity with the activities of representatives of other Caucasian republics. To this end, these representatives met in Paris on 8 May 1921 and discussed the creation of a Caucasian confederation. Later, at a meeting on June 10, 1921, the plenipotentiaries of the three Caucasian republics agreed to create a political and economic union chaired by A. Topchubashev. In 1934, shortly before his death, Topchubashev signed the "Declaration of the Caucasian Confederation" in Brussels with the participation of representatives of the peoples of Georgia and the North Caucasus.

While living abroad, A. Topchubashev, along with other political emigrants, continued his activities until the end of his life on the path of restoring the independence of Azerbaijan.

In Paris, he was engaged in scientific journalism, published books there, informed the world community that Bolshevik Russia was pursuing a colonial policy against its people.

A. Topchubashev died on November 5, 1934 in the Saint-Denis district of Paris and was buried in the Saint-Cloud cemetery.

Recommended literature:

1. Azərbaycan Cümhuriyyəti - 100 / A. C. İsgəndərov [et al.] ; elmi red. F. F. Əhmədova ; "İçərişəhər" Dövlət Tarix-Memarlıq Qoruğu İdarəsi. - Bakı : Elm və təhsil, 2018. - 520 s.
2. Azərbaycan Paris Sülh Konfransında : 1919-1920 = Azerbaijan at Paris Peace Conference : 1919-1920 = D'Azerbaïdjan à la Conference de Paix à Paris : 1919-1920 / tərc., tərt. V. M. Quliyev. - Bakı : Ozan, 2008. - 244 s.
3. Topçubaşov, Əlimərdan bəy Ələkbər oğlu. Azərbaycanın yol göstərəni = Маяк Азербайджана / Ə. Ə. Topçubaşov ; tərt., tərc. V. M. Quliyev, elmi red. K. M. Abdullayev ; Bakı Slavyan Universiteti. - Bakı : Kitab aləmi NPM, 2010. - 96 s.
4. Topçubaşı, Əlimərdan bəy Ələkbər oğlu. Azərbaycan Cümhuriyyətinin yaradılması / Ə. Ə. Topçubaşı. - Bakı : Təknur MMC, 2013. - 55 s.
5. Topçubaşov, Əlimərdan bəy Ələkbər oğlu. ... Xalqımızın müstəqil yaşayacağına inanırdıq : [məqalələr, səfər qeydləri, nitqlər, diplomatik məktublar, publisistika] / Ə. Ə. Topçubaşov ; tərt., tərc. V. M. Quliyev ; red. A. Məsud ; Azərbaycan Respublikasının Nazirlər Kabineti yanında Tərcümə Mərkəzi. - Bakı : Azərbaycan Tərcümə Mərkəzi, 2018. - 688 s
6. Topçubaşov, Əlimərdan bəy Ələkbər oğlu. "Kaspi"dən seçmələr : [məqalələr] / Ə. Ə. Topçubaşov ; tərt., rus dilindən tərc. V. M. Quliyev. - Bakı : Zərdabi LTD MMC, 2018. - 126 s.