102nd anniversary of Anvar Mammadov's birth: Distinguished diplomat and Nuremberg trial interpreter

Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the birth of prominent Azerbaijani diplomat Anvar Mammadov, former editor-in-chief of the Soviet Information Bureau and interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials.

According to Report, Mammadov was born on August 15, 1923, in Baku. His father, Nazim Mammadov, was a victim of Stalin’s repressions and died in prison in 1949. He was posthumously rehabilitated. His mother, Olga Ivanova, worked as a typist and clerk.

After the seventh grade, Anvar Mammadov began working as an assistant mechanic, and after finishing school in June 1941, he was accepted as a cadet into an aviation school. However, he was soon discharged due to an injury.

He then returned to Baku and was sent to military interpreter courses for the intelligence service of the General Staff of the Red Army. He served in World War II.

Anvar Mammadov worked in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR and participated in the Nuremberg Trials as deputy head of the translation agency. Notably, he was one of only two Azerbaijanis involved in this historic process. The other Azerbaijani was 26-year-old Alasgar Mammadov, who participated as a German-language interpreter at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal from December 1945 to February 1946 under the USSR Foreign Ministry.

Until February 1950, Anvar Mammadov held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Until 1956, he served as editor-in-chief of the main editorial office of the Radio Committee (foreign broadcasting).

From 1956 to 1959, he was Minister-Counselor at the Soviet Embassy in Washington and editor-in-chief of the "USSR" magazine. In 1959–1960, he became editor-in-chief and first deputy chairman of Sovinformburo, and from 1962 to 1985, he was the first deputy chairman of the USSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting.

He was awarded seven orders and ten medals and was fluent in English, German, Italian, and French.

In 1985, immediately after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR, one of his first actions—reportedly under pressure from the Armenian lobby—was the removal of Anvar Mammadov from his position as first deputy chairman of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting. Following this, Armenian figures gained wide access to Russian television channels.

Anvar Mammadov passed away on September 7, 2023, in Moscow, having lived exactly 100 years.