First head of the Crimean People’s Republic, the first elected mufti of Crimea and the poet of the Crimean Tatar anthem
Born in 1885 in the village of Büyük Sonaq near Dzhankoy, the son of an imam, he went to Istanbul in 1908 to study law and theology, founded the Young Tatar Writers’ Association and the secret organisation Vatan (Homeland), and returned to Crimea in 1912. In March 1917 he became chairman of the Crimean Muslim Executive Committee and the first mufti of Crimea elected by delegates rather than appointed by the Minister of the Interior. Arrested in June for anti-government agitation, he was freed after a protest bearing 5,000 signatures. He prepared the Qurultay and in December became chairman and director of justice of the Directory of the Crimean People’s Republic, but was arrested by the Bolsheviks in January 1918 and killed without trial by sailors in Sevastopol on 23 February. His poem “Ant etkenmen” became the Crimean Tatar national anthem.
Also known as: Noman Chelebidjikhan · Noman Celebicihan · Chelebi Chelebiev · Noman Chelebijihan
Activities and affiliations
- 1917–1918 Government and administration
- 1917–1918 Religion
- 1917–1918 Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1908–1912Studied law and theology in Istanbul; co-founded Vatan
- 1913Law faculty of the Psychoneurological Institute, St Petersburg
- 1917Chairman of the Crimean Muslim Executive Committee; mufti of Crimea
- 1917–1918Chairman and director of justice of the Directory of the Crimean People’s Republic