Takhir Israfil oglu Isaev was born in 1922 in the village of Shykhly in the Kazakh district of the Azerbaijan SSR. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Isaev was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army, took part in battles in the North Caucasus. He knew German well and was a scout.
In the battle of Mozdok in 1942, Isaev's task was to blow up the bridge in order to cut off the enemy armored train's way back. Takhir himself laid mines under the sleepers and was in a hurry, but it was too late: the armored train, having examined the path ahead, returned and began to slow down. Isaev was clearly visible between the farms, against the background of the sky. Machine-gun fire was opened on him. During the descent from the embankment, he was stunned by an explosion and captured. Contained in a prisoner of war camp in Austria. In March 1943, together with a small group of prisoners of war, Isaev was sent to clean up the area of the city of Bergamo near Milan, which had suffered from Allied bombing. Here, together with Lieutenant Yakov Vinogradov, he managed to kill the soldier guarding them at night and escape. He crept up to the train, climbed inside and hid between large boxes of some kind of equipment, thinking that the train was heading east. In this train, Takhir hid for three days, and when the train stopped at the platform of some station (he later found out that he was at the eastern station of Milan) and the cars began to be unloaded, Isaev managed to slip out of the car and hide behind a small forest.
After his escape, Isaev hid with the Italian Adele Maurizio, whom he met on the way, explaining with the help of gestures that he had escaped from German captivity. It turned out that Adele Maurizio helped the prisoners of war make their way to the partisans. She introduced Tahir to her brother Antonio Milesi, who was the commander of the Demi partisan brigade. Later, Isaev joined the Fiamme Verdi (Green Flame) partisan brigade. It happened in October 1943. In the summer of 1944, the brigade was already fighting against the Nazis in the Alben mountains. The brigade consisted of six detachments, one of which was commanded by an officer of the Red Army, Lieutenant Takhir Isaev. People of different nationalities fought in Isaev's detachment - Russians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Italians, Czechs. During one of the battles on the mountain Alben Isaev was wounded in the left leg and was again taken prisoner. Having learned that Isaev speaks German and understands Italian, the Nazis decided to use him as a translator, but Isaev refused. After that, he was sent to the prison in the city of Bergamo, where Isaev was held until November 1944.
Isaev managed to escape from prison and return to his comrades. Tahir again joined the ranks of the partisans, this time becoming a member of the Tarzan brigade of the same Fiamme Verdi division. As the commander of a partisan detachment, he carried out numerous attacks on the Nazis and Germans in the vicinity of Serina. Isaev's Italian friends called his detachment the detachment of Lieutenant Russo.
He operated mainly in the Serina area, repeatedly making daring raids on the enemy; he organized ambushes, blew up military depots, attacked enemy trains and headquarters, and destroyed the enemy's strength and equipment. So, once the brigade commander received information that the Germans put a group of Italians on the train and were going to take her to Germany for hard labor. Isaev, who, according to his commander, had extensive experience in subversive activities, was entrusted with the task of saving the guys. At night, Takhir with his detachment went to the village of Oltre-il-Colle, where the train was supposed to pass. The detachment mined the rails, after which the steam locomotive and the first car, in which the German conductors were traveling, exploded. The surviving Germans got out of the cars and opened fire on the partisans. As a result of the operation, more than forty fascists were killed, and the Italians were freed.
On April 25, 1945, during the anti-fascist uprising in Italy, Lieutenant Serafino distinguished himself in the battles for Milan, and a day earlier, on April 24, he participated in the storming of the city of Bergamo. In the same year, Isaev became an honorary citizen of the city of Milan and joined the Italian Communist Party.
After the war in 1945, Isaev returned to Azerbaijan, but had problems due to captivity. Isaev was forced to move from his native village. He settled in Rustavi. Here Isaev worked as a blacksmith and welder. In the spring of 1967, Isaev was able to return to Italy as a guest for two weeks in the municipality of Bergamo. He was invited to Milan and Bergamo by the National Society of the Partisans of Italy. Mayor of the city of Bergamo Salva Parichi invited Isaev to take part in the celebration of the Victory Day over fascism.
In Italy, Isaev met with his Italian friends, who took him to the places of former battles, met with Adele Maurizio, who already had three children, as well as with the chairman of the Italian Communist Party, Luigi Longo. For courage and courage shown in 1943-1945, Isaev was awarded seven awards of Italy. In 1967, Takhir Isaev was awarded the medal of the Soviet medal "For Courage", and in 1985 - the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree. In total, Isaev was the owner of 36 orders and medals.
In 1973, the documentary Captain Russo, produced by the North Caucasian Newsreel Studio, was shot, dedicated to the partisan Hasan Kamalov. Takhir Isaev also starred in this film, who talked about how he fought in the same partisan division with Kamalov in Bergamo. Later he returned to his native village of Shykhly, where he was allocated land and conditions were created for building a house. Takhir Isaev died in 2001 and was buried in the cemetery of his native village.