Musa Rafiyev was born in 1888 in the city of Ganja. He received his initial education at the madrasa operating under the
Shah Abbas Mosque in
Ganja, and later at the
Ganja Men's Gymnasium. After graduating from the Ganja Men's Gymnasium with a silver medal, he entered the Imperial University of Kyiv. After graduating from the medical faculty of the Imperial University of Kyiv in 1908, he worked as a resident at the university's clinic. In November of that year, he returned to Ganja and began working as a doctor at the
Yelizavetpol city hospital. After the
February Revolution, he was appointed commissioner for the
Yelizavetpol Governorate by the Special Transcaucasian Committee established by the Provisional Government. He was a member of the Muslim faction of the
Transcaucasian Sejm and, after the dissolution of the
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, a member of the
Azerbaijani National Council. After the internal changes made by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers,
Fatali Khan Khoyski, on 6 October 1918, Musa bey Rafiyev was appointed Minister of Guardianship and Religious Beliefs. On 7 December 1918 he was elected to the Azerbaijan Republic Parliament from the
Musavat party and served on the Finance and Budget Commission. In the fifth government cabinet formed on 22 December 1919, Musa bey Rafiyev was appointed Minister of Public Welfare and Health, a position he held until 1 April 1920. During his tenure, 35 hospitals and 56 feldsher stations were opened under his leadership in
Azerbaijan. In September 1921, he became the first chairman of the "Azerbaijan Information Bureau," established to oppose the occupation of
Azerbaijan. In 1922, under Musa bey's chairmanship, the "Committee of Azerbaijani Government and Parliament Members," which was a continuation of this organization, was formed. Musa bey married Nina Alekseyevna. From this marriage, they had a daughter named Leyla, born in 1922, and a son named Davud, born in 1926. He died in 1938 in
Tabriz. ==See also==