Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Dövlət Pedaqoji Universiteti) or short ASPU - public university specializing in the training of pedagogical staff and professionals across a diverse range of fields.

The Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University was established in 1921 under Decree No. 66, ''On the Organization of the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Men,'' dated August 26, 1921, and signed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Azerbaijan, Nariman Narimanov. Its first graduation was in 1924 with 28 graduates. In 1972, the Institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Before its foundation, an Organizing Committee (Preparatory Commission) was created for the establishment of the institute in late 1920. Fatullah Bey Rzabeyli was appointed the Chairman of the Committee. The members were Habib Bey Mahmudbeyov and Rahim Jafarov. Abdulla Shaig, Muhammed bey Efendiyev, and Sadig Huseynov also took part in the activities of the committee. They also participated in the organization of the one-year pedagogical courses which played a key role in the establishment of the Pedagogical Institute in Azerbaijan and also delivered lectures in these courses.

The Organizing Committee was to prepare a curriculum for the institute and present it to the Azerbaijani People's State Education Commission, to find qualified personnel and to resolve the issue of teaching aids and construction. The Committee began its work on June 9, 1920.

On June 13, 1921, the Azerbaijani People's Education Commission approved the first statute of the Pedagogical Institute. The statute defines the structure, duties, and rights of the institution and also specifies the subject disciplines included in the curriculum, as well as the rules of the colloquium, acts of admission and examinations to strengthen the knowledge and control of students. According to the curriculum, students in the first year were supposed to teach the subjects such as mathematics, Mother tongue, the Russian language, literature, music, etc. In the second year, students were divided into specialties and trained in accordance with the relevant subjects. On November 12, 1921, three days before the beginning of the classes, the first meeting of the Council of the Institute was held at the Pedagogical Institute and questions were also discussed about the organization of lessons and other important tasks.

In the first years, the Institute trained teachers in the fields of history, philology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics as well as theoretical courses and experimental studies in botany, zoology, physiology, chemistry, geology, and mineralogy. The students were educated within the framework of the program of the Baku State University by such teachers as F. Rasulzade, S. Huseynov, A. A. Amirov, S. Kh. Osinanzade. In this period, the most powerful scientific center of the department was the faculty of physiology.

In 1921, the Department of History and Public Literature was established. The new department was responsible for teaching the humanitarian and special disciplines, philosophy, logic, pedagogy, didactics, political economy, the foundations of the state law and other subjects. From 1925 to 1926 the department was divided into two independent departments: the Department of History and the Department of Philology.

Between 1923 and 1924, the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan allocated 112 thousand manats for educational, scientific and economic work of the institute. In those years, the Institute's basic library was also enriched. At the time of the library's creation, there were just 50 books in the Azerbaijani language and 73 books in different languages. A few years later, the library fund of German literature was significantly increased from Moscow and other cities. In the academic year 1923-24, there were 2,000 copies in Azerbaijani and 1,000 copies in the Russian language in the library.