September 18 marks the birth of two prominent figures in Azerbaijan’s musical culture — Uzeyir Abdulhuseyn oglu Hajibeyli and Muslim Muhammed oglu Magomayev. Through their creative work and multifaceted activities, both made a significant contribution to the formation and development of professional music in Azerbaijan.
Uzeyir Hajibeyli was born on September 18, 1885, in the village of Agjabadi in the Karabakh region and spent his childhood and youth in Shusha. His rich creative legacy encompasses a wide range of activities, including composition, scholarship, education, journalism and public service, and occupies a significant place in the development of Azerbaijan’s professional musical culture.
Muslim Magomayev was born on September 18, 1885, in Grozny. He devoted 30 years of his life to Azerbaijan, contributing significantly to the development of musical culture and public education. His work as a composer, conductor, educator and folklorist forms an important part of the history of professional musical theatre in Azerbaijan.
The National Museum of History of Azerbaijan preserves and displays a range of exhibits associated with the life and work of Uzeyir Hajibeyli and Muslim Magomayev. These materials offer an insight into their artistic legacy, as well as documenting different aspects of their personal and professional lives through archival documents, artefacts and other historical sources.
In 2021, the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan published two catalogues devoted to Uzeyir Hajibeyli and Muslim Magomayev. The catalogues bring together and systematically document a substantial body of documentary and material sources preserved in the Museum’s collections.
The catalogue dedicated to Uzeyir Hajibeyli contains information on 284 exhibits associated with his life and activities. The materials cover different aspects of his work as a composer, conductor, writer, scholar, educator, librettist and dramatist, publicist and feuilletonist. The exhibits are arranged chronologically according to the dates of creation of his works.
The catalogue devoted to Muslim Magomayev contains information on 201 exhibits preserved in the Museum’s Gifts and Memorial Objects, Documentary Sources, and Negatives collections. The publication consists of two sections: “The Composer’s Life” and “The Composer’s Creative Work.”
The museum materials preserved in these collections provide valuable evidence of the lives and multifaceted activities of Uzeyir Hajibeyli and Muslim Magomayev and constitute important sources for the study of the history of Azerbaijan’s musical culture.
The memory of Yasen Ahmadov is also preserved at the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan.
The events of September 1918 are also reflected in the military decorations, archaeological finds, and other material objects preserved in the collections of the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan.
On September 9, 2026, a specialty exam was held at the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan for applicants seeking admission to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program.
On September 1, marking the anniversary of the death of the renowned philanthropist and entrepreneur Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev (1838–1924), staff of the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan visited his grave in Mardakan.