Alish Lambaranski

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Alish Lambaranski (Azeri: Əliş Cəmil oğlu Ləmbəranski) (1914, Lambaran, Karabakh region–1999, Baku) was an Azerbaijani petroluem engineer who developed a successful career in the Soviet Azerbaijan to become chief of a large oil refinery. He won a Stalin medal for his work in fuel mining. After that, he led Azerbaijan's union of oil refineries, Azpetrolplants. Later in his career, Lambaranski was appointed Mayor of Baku, a public post he successfully held from 1958 to 1966.^[1]. After that Alish Lambaranski held the post of the Chief Engineer/Architect of the City of Baku for many years.

Back in the 1960s, one of the most persistent problems in Baku was a lack of housing. In order to change the situation, Lambaranski assembled a strong, professional team of city leaders and soon developed a plan to solve the housing problem. His plan was to create "micro-regions" with public utilities and playgrounds. He also widened Baku's crowded streets, and replaced the noisy, old trams with trolleys and motorized buses. Older, single-storied buildings were torn down to make room for new construction.

The list of building projects that he carried out includes the Republic Palace, Gulustan Palace, the renovation of the Opera and Ballet Theater when it burned down, the Theater of Young Spectators, the Baku Plant of Consumer Conditioners and the Plant of Deep Water Sea Foundations, not to mention several large residential districts. New cinemas, schools, kindergartens and cafes appeared in Baku as well.

Lambaranski traveled quite extensively, and once while abroad, he noticed beautiful, colorful benches placed under trees. He knew that the people of Baku liked to stop and chat whenever they met, so he began producing benches to give the people a place to rest while they talked. The benches became so popular that the famous Azerbaijani composer Tofig Guliyev, a good friend of his, composed a lively tune called "The Benches of Baku." Known for his efforts, Lambaranski soon became popular among the people of Baku. They respectfully and affectionately called him "our mayor" instead of the usual title, "Chairman of the City Executive."^[1]

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