How a letter to the Bulgarian General Secretary changed the life of a Baku satirist?

The inconspicuous Mamedyarov Street, formerly Zamkovskaya, just ten steps away from the Vahid monument. Thousands of tourists daily pass by house No. 4, and about five years ago there was a plaque with the inscription "Jahangir Aslanoglu," writes the newspaper "Caspian".

An unnoticeable street, an inconspicuous door, an unremarkable plaque. Let's knock on this door. For many years, Jahangir Aslanoglu lived here, the chief director of the Central Concert Hall (now the Heydar Aliyev Palace - ed.) for 25 years. The Fortress told legends about Jahangir.

Gabrovo

In 1972, Jahangir wrote a letter to the General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhivkov. Until then, the non-party director was absolutely indifferent to all the general secretaries of the Warsaw Pact, including the secretary of his native Soviet Communist Party, Brezhnev. Here is a brief content of his message: "Dear Todor-jan. For ten years now, I, a satirical writer from Baku, son of the jeweler Aslan, have been translating and publishing Gabrovo anecdotes in the Baku press. I learned Bulgarian and fell in love with Gabrovo, but I still can't get to the humor festival. Of course, I'm very upset. I remain yours forever, a great friend of the Bulgarian people, Jahangir Aslan oglu."

"Three hundred letters a week - maybe then the master of Bulgaria will respond," laughed the director's friends. "Here, the chairmen of executive committees don't respond to collective letters from workers, and you've set your sights on the General Secretary of Bulgaria..."

Two months later, an invitation came from Sofia for J. Aslanoglu and his family to the Gabrovo festival. Besides Gabrovo, Jahangir and his wife visited Sofia and had a wonderful time at the General Secretary's dacha surrounded by Todor Zhivkov's family. For many years afterward, the director's wife, Zohra khanum, corresponded with Lyudmila, the daughter of Bulgaria's General Secretary. A year later, Jahangir was invited there again, this time as a jury member of the World Humor Festival in Gabrovo. This time not only the entire Fortress but also the entire Moscow beau monde was shocked: everyone expected that sweet little Bulgaria would invite the USSR Minister of Culture Furtseva or at least Arkady Raikin as a jury member, but instead it was an unknown director from Baku...

Humor Festival

A warm company awaited our compatriot in Gabrovo. From France - jury member Jean Effel, author of the notoriously famous parody of the Bible called "The Creation of the World." From Denmark - the equally famous cartoonist Herluf Bidstrup, and the honorary jury member that year was Charlie Chaplin's daughter. Bulgaria invited the best that Europe an