Leyla Alasgar gizi Mammadbeyova, née Zeynalova''Conquering the Skies''. Baku Magazine, #2 (22), March–April 2011; p. 72. ( Azerbaijani: ''Leyla Ələsgər qızı Məmmədbəyova''; 17 September 1909 – 4 July 1989), was the first

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i female

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

.The Proprietress of the Sky
by I.Gadirova. ''Nash Vek''. 7 May 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2007 She also was the first female pilot of

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, of

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...

and of Southwest Asia.

Career

Mammadbeyova's father Alasgar Zeynalov was the cousin of one of Azerbaijan's pioneer film actors, Huseyn Arablinski. Her family was arts-oriented, and as a teenager she could play the piano and the

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

. At age 14, she married former landowner Bahram Mammadbeyov of Kurdakhany, who would go on to become chief of the Professional Unions Bank in Baku. Mammadbeyova was trained as a professional aviator at the Baku Airclub and performed her first flight in 1931. She continued her education at an aviators school in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1932. On 17 March 1933, Mammadbeyova became the second woman

parachutist Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(after Nina Kamneva) having jumped from a Polikarpov Po-2 aeroplane at Moscow's Tushino Airfield. In 1934 she won the parachute jump competition held among representatives of the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

nations. By 1941 she was

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. Mammadbeyova continued her career as a pilot and instructor at the Baku Airclub. She was refused to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as at the time she was raising four children (she had six overall). Despite the Baku Airclub closing down due to war conditions, Mammadbeyova managed to launch glider and parachutist courses of her own, where she trained hundreds of combat pilots and around 4,000 paratroopers. Two of her students later became Heroes of the Soviet Union. Mammadbeyova performed her last flight in 1949 and worked as Vice-Chair of the

DOSAAF DOSAAF (russian: ДОСААФ), full name ''Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy'' (russian: Добровольное общество содействия армии, авиации и флоту), was a parami ...

's Baku branch until 1961. Mammadbeyova's elder son Firudin fought in World War II, and her younger son Khanlar took part in the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...

, both as combat pilots. Leyla Mammadbeyova became a living icon while still in her twenties. Her courage and skills were celebrated through media and the arts. Her character inspired the literary works of

Mikayil Mushfig Mikayil Mushfig ( az, Mikayıl Müşfiq, born Mikayil Ismayilzade) (5 June 1908, Baku – 6 January 1938, Baku) was an Azerbaijani poet of the 1930s. Most of his poetry is about romance, nature, feelings. Despite this, he soon became one of ...

(''Afshan'', 1933 and ''Shoyla'', 1934) and

Samad Vurgun Samad Vurgun ( az, Səməd Vurğun ; born Samad Yusif oghlu Vekilov;, . March 21, 1906 – May 27, 1956) was an Azerbaijani and Soviet poet, dramatist, public figure, first People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1943), academician of Azerbaijan Na ...

(''Leyla'', 1935), as well as the movie ''Ismat'' (dir. Mikayil Mikayilov, 1934). In the latter, Mammadbeyova appeared as a stuntwoman, having performed in plane operating scenes. In 1995 a documentary on Mammadbeyova's life and career entitled ''

Leyla Leila ( fa, لیلا, ar, ليلى, he, לילה) is a feminine given name primarily in the Semitic (Arabic, Hebrew) and Iranian languages. In Latin alphabet the name is commonly spelled in multiple ways, including Laela, Laelah, Laila, La ...

'' and directed by Nazim Rza Israfiloglu was released by ''Azerbaijantelefilm''.AzTV / Our Films: Leyla

References

External links

İsmət movie online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mammadbeyova, Leyla Azerbaijani military personnel Azerbaijani women aviators Paratroopers 1909 births 1989 deaths People from Baku Women air force personnel of the Soviet Union Burials at II Alley of Honor Soviet aviators