Firoza Begum ( bn, ফিরোজা বেগম; 28 July 1930 – 9 September 2014) was a Bangladeshi

Nazrul Geeti Nazrul Sangeet ( bn, নজরুল সঙ্গীত), also Nazrul Geeti ( bn, নজরুল গীতি; ), refers to the songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul Geeti incorporate revolut ...

singer. She was awarded the

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

in 1979 by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

Early life and career

Firoza Begum was born in Gopalganj District on 28 July 1930 to the zamindar family of Ratail Ghonaparha. Her parents were Mohammad Ismail and Begum Kowkabunnesa. She became drawn to music in her childhood. She started her career in 1940s. Firoza Begum first sang in

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

while studying in sixth grade. She met the national poet

Kazi Nazrul Islam , pseudonym = bn, ধূমকেতু, Dhūmketu , image = Nazrul.jpg , image_size = , caption = Nazrul in Chittagong, 1926 , birth_date = 11 ''Joiṣṭhyô'', 1306 '' Bônggabdô ...

at the age of 10. She became a student of him. In 1942, she recorded her first Islamic song by the

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts ne ...

company

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

in 78 rpm disk format. Since then, 12 LP, 4 EP, 6 CD and more than 20 audio cassette records have been released. She lived in Kolkata from 1954 until she moved to Dhaka in 1967.

Personal life

In 1956, Firoza Begum was married to

Kamal Dasgupta Kamal Dasgupta (28 July 1912 – 20 July 1974), also known as ''Kamal Uddin Ahamed'' was a Bangla music director, composer and folk artist. Rāga and Thumri were the main elements of his music. Early life and career Dasgupta was born on 28 July ...

(who converted to Islam before the marriage and took the name Kamal Uddin Ahmed), a singer, composer, and lyricist. Kamal died on 20 July 1974. Two of their three sons,

Hamin Ahmed Cholent and other Sabbath stews ( yi, טשאָלנט, tsholnt ''or'' tshulnt) are traditional Jewish stews. It is usually simmered overnight for 10–12 hours or more, and eaten for lunch on Shabbat (the Sabbath). Shabbat stews were develope ...

and

Shafin Ahmed Shafin Ahmed (born 14 February 1961) is a Bangladeshi rock bassist, singer-songwriter, record producer and politician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and bassist for the Bangladeshi rock band Miles, where he and his elder brother Hamin ...

are musicians. They are currently members of the rock band Miles.

Death

Firoza Begum died on 9 September 2014 in Apollo Hospital, Dhaka due to heart and kidney problems.

Awards and honours

Awards

(1979) * Netaji Subhash Chandra Award * Satyajit Ray Award * Nasiruddin Gold Medal * Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Gold Medal * Best Nazrul Sangeet Singer Award * Nazrul Academy Award * Churulia Gold Medal * Gold Disk from CBS, Japan * Meril-Prothom Alo Lifetime honorary award (2011) * Sheltech Award (2000)

Honours

* D Lit from

University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public university in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 with ...

* Bongo Shomman from

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

(2012)

Legacy

The 'Feroza Begum Memorial Gold Medal' was introduced from 2016 by Dhaka University. The recipient is selected by a jury board each year from nationally recognised music artists. On 28 July 2018,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

celebrated Firoza Begum's 88th Birthday with
Google Doodle

References

1930 births 2014 deaths Recipients of the Independence Day Award People from Faridpur District 20th-century Bangladeshi women singers 20th-century Bangladeshi singers 21st-century Bangladeshi women singers 21st-century Bangladeshi singers Burials at Banani Graveyard Bangladeshi Nazrul Geeti singers Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Meril-Prothom Alo Lifetime Achievement Award winners {{Bangladesh-singer-stub