M. Topchubashov’s endless interest in music brought him closer to the brilliant composer U. Gadzhibekov. U. Hajibeyov called him a “philosopher and composer of medicine.” On the advice of U. Gadzhibekov, Topchubashov performed several surgical operations to music and repeatedly noted that it was very useful.

Mustafa Topchubashov, organizer of medical education and healthcare in Azerbaijan, one of the founders of the scientific school of surgery in the republic, was born in 1885. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and a scientist-surgeon.

Topchubashov completed his primary education in 1904 and entered the gymnasium. In 1914 he graduated from high school. When I was in my third year, the October Revolution happened. As in other Russian cities, it was dangerous to be in Kyiv at that time. Many of those who went to study with him returned home. Several students continued their studies. One of them was Mustafa Bey.

The young doctor, who completed his studies in 1919, operated in the Nakhchivan and Baku hospitals. In 1920-1923 he worked as an intern at the Department of Surgery of the Medical Faculty of ASU, and in 1923-1930 as an assistant. In 1930 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Clinic, pathology and surgical treatment of splenomegaly of malarial origin”. In view of the importance of this work, M. Topchubashov was awarded the title of professor, and he was elected head of the Department of Surgery of the Azerbaijan Medical University and held this position with honor until the end of his life.

In 1937, M. Topchubashov, for the first time in the history of the world science of anesthesiology, discovered an original method of anesthesia – injectable essential oil anesthesia – a method of anesthesia. This method has become widespread due to its simplicity, ease of preparation and application technique, elimination of a number of negative situations that arise during inhalation anesthesia (deep anesthetic sleep, high concentration of narcotic drugs in the blood, etc.). Injections of the essential oil mixture were also used as an anesthetic for cholelithiasis, traumatic shock, tetanus, convulsions, treatment and childbirth. In 1945, the Scientific and Medical Council of the People’s Commissariat of Health of the USSR, at a meeting of the Pharmacological Commission, allowed the production of an essential oil mixture called Analgesin.

After the war, Professor M. Topchubashov was appointed chief surgeon of the Ministry of Health of the Azerbaijan SSR. In 1945, Azerbaijan was elected a full member of the EA. In 1947-1949 he worked as the director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Twice in different periods (1951-1956 and 1969-1981) he served as vice-president of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. In 1954, he organized a listening operation in the department where he worked. Mustafa-bek Topchubashov received the title of Honored Scientist in 1940. In 1960 he was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1953 he became a laureate of the Stalin Prize, and in 1975 he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

In the 7th hall of the Azerbaijan Museum of Medicine, a stand and a showcase are exhibited, reflecting the life and work of the outstanding scientist Mustafa Topchubashov.

On July 31, 1995, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev issued a decree on holding the 100th anniversary of the birth of Academician Mustafa Topchubashov at the state level, taking into account his special merits in the development of medical science in Azerbaijan.