Rashid Khan Zavid oghlu Gaplanov (', , '; 1883–1937), also known as Rashit-han Gaplanov, was a North Caucasian-Azerbaijani statesman of Kumyk ethnicity who served as the

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in the fifth and fourth cabinets of

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

Early years

Kaplanov was born to a royal Kumyk biy family in the village of Aksay, currently in

Khasavyurtovsky District Khasavyurtovsky District (; ; , ''Xasavürt yaq''; , ''Xasi-Evlan khioşt'') is an administrativeLaw #16 and municipalLaw #6 district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of the Republic of Dagestan, forty-one in the Republic of Dagestan, ...

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

. His family traced its origin to Soltan-Mut of Endirey, a prince of the house of Shamkhals. He completed his secondary education in a

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

Realny School. In 1910 he graduated from the Law Department of

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

. He then taught at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In 1913, he returned to Vladikavkaz and worked as an attorney in a regional court.

Political career

In 1917-1918, he became one of the key founders of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, where he held several ministerial positions within its government. After Denikin forces invaded the State bringing them under Russian rule, Kaplanov moved to

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

in early 1919. In Baku, Gaplanov joined Ahrar Party and was elected to the

Azerbaijani Parliament The National Assembly (), also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat co ...

. When the fourth cabinet of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was formed on 14 April 1919 under Prime Minister Nasib Yusifbeyli, he was appointed the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs. As the Minister of Education, he played an important role in establishing institutions of higher education in Azerbaijan, among them the largest

Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) (BDU; ) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established on 1 September 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and philology, physics ...

, where he also taught a course on

Ottoman literature Turkish literature () comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language. The Ottoman Turkish, Ottoman form of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, was highly influenced by Persian literature, Persi ...

himself. He reportedly increased funding for the university to AZM 5 million to open a Philology and Medicine departments. In 1919, Gaplanov arranged funding for 100 Azerbaijani students to study at universities abroad. He also spearheaded establishment of State Commission on General Education Reforms which eventually introduced the

Azerbaijani alphabet The Azerbaijani alphabet (, , ) has three versions which includes the Arabic script, Arabic, Latin script, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets. Azerbaijani language#North Azerbaijani, North Azerbaijani, the official language of Azerbaijan, Republic ...

based on Latin script. Gaplanov remained in the office until December 22 of the same year, when the new fifth government was formed, where he took the position of Minister of Finance. He served as Minister of Finance until 1 April 1920. After the

Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan The Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan, also known as the Sovietization or Soviet invasion of Azerbaijan, took place in April 1920. It was a military campaign conducted by the 11th Army of Soviet Russia with the aim of installing a new Soviet govern ...

on 28 April 1920, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ceased to exist. Gaplanov was subsequently arrested in June 1920 along with many Azerbaijani statesmen and sent to Moscow prison. He was later released and taught a course on

Turkish History The history of Turkey, understood as the history of the area now forming the territory of the Republic of Turkey, includes the history of both Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey) and Eastern Thrace (the European part of Turkey). These two prev ...

at the

Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies (, abbreviated МИВ (''MIV'')) was a university-level educational institution that operated in Moscow, Russia, from 1920–1954. It was created as a result of merging Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languag ...

. Gaplanov was arrested as a part of the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

on 8 October 1937 and imprisoned at Butyrskaya and then Lefortovo prisons. He was executed on 10 December 1937.

Family

His parents were Zavid Kaplan-Hajiyevich Kaplanov (1838-1914) — one of the largest landowners in

, and Aybala Ozdeadjieva. He had a younger brother named Ibrahim (Irbay) Kaplanov (1887-1948), who in 1918 commanded the Kumyk Cavalry Regiment of the Mountainous Republic, and later fought in the White Army of Denikin. After the defeat of the

Whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

, he emigrated to the USA, married Vernon Marguerite Magoffin Haskell, and died in 1947. His younger sister Najabat (1886-1979) was married to Temirbolat (Fyodor) Bekovich-Cherkassky (1870-1953), also the Kumyk biy (prince) and last

Military Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

Kabarda The Grand Principality of Great Kabarda, also known as East Circassia or Kabardia (), was a historical country in the North Caucasus corresponding partly to modern-day Kabardino-Balkaria. It existed as a political community from the fifteenth ce ...

. Rashid-khan himself was married to Olga Efimovna Arshon (1886-1964), a Jewish student of the medical faculty of the

. His father was furious and disinherited him because of the choice, but they made amends after three years. With Olga Arshon he had: * son Murad Kaplanov (1915-1980) — Soviet scientist, chief designer of the first Soviet space communication systems; married to Liliana Rambakh (1918-1999), issue ** grandson Rashid Kaplanov (1949-2007) — President of the European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS) (2002-2006) * Fatma Okuneva (1911-1992) — married to Yuri Mazel (1896—1938) and then Israel Okunev (1911-1963), had issue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaplanov, Rashid Khan 1883 births 1937 deaths Azerbaijan Democratic Republic politicians Azerbaijani people of Dagestani descent Azerbaijani people of Kumyk descent Finance ministers of Azerbaijan Government ministers of Azerbaijan Soviet rehabilitations Great Purge victims from Azerbaijan Members of the National Assembly of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic Muslims from the Russian Empire People from Khasavyurtovsky District

Early years

Political career

Family

See also

References