Nargiz Ilgar qizi Birk-Petersen (née Abbaszadeh; ; born 7 August 1976) is an Azerbaijani-American lawyer, presenter and model. She is known for presenting the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

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 ...

together with Eldar Gasimov and

Leyla Aliyeva Leyla Aliyeva ( az, Leyla İlham qızı Əliyeva, born 3 July 1984) is the first daughter of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Early life According to her personal website, Aliyeva was born in Moscow on 3 July 1985. From 2006 to 2008, ...

Career

Birk-Petersen was born and raised in

and attended

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

in the Sabail district. At the age of 16, she began studying law at

Khazar University Khazar University ( az, Xəzər Universiteti, which directly translates as Caspian University) is a private university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Campuses Khazar University owns four campuses in the city of Baku and two campuses in regions of ...

. During her studies, she joined the university's

student television station A student television station is a television station run by university, high or middle school students that primarily airs school/university news and in many cases, student-produced soap operas, entertainment shows, and other programming. At the h ...

as a reporter for the English-language news program. In 1994, she decided to leave

and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where her father lived. There, she worked a side job as a model while pursuing a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Later on, she also obtained a J.D. degree from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

and an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in international and

comparative law Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law (legal systems) of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal "systems" (or "families") in existence in the world, including the ...

from Georgetown University Law Center. Birk-Petersen first practiced law in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, but later moved to

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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, where she worked until 2011. In early 2012, she was appointed Head of Communications for the

Baku bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics Baku 2020 ( az, 'Bakı 2020') was a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics by the city of Baku and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan. Bids were also placed by Doha, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome (which later cancelled its bid) and the chosen host ci ...

. In this capacity, she was part of the city's delegation to the general assembly of the

Association of National Olympic Committees The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) is an international organization that affiliates the current 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Each year it gathers all its membe ...

, alongside First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva and Ministers

Yaqub Eyyubov Yaqub Abdulla oghlu Eyyubov ( az, Yaqub Eyyubov Abdulla oğlu; born 1945) is an Azerbaijani politician who has been First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan since 2003. Early years Eyyubov was born Baku in 1945. He studied at Azerbaijan Techni ...

and Azad Rahimov. In the same year, Birk-Petersen was chosen to co-host the

after participating in a

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

organized by the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television. She presented three televised shows on 22, 24 and 26 May 2012 together with singer Eldar Gasimov and television presenter

. The broadcasts attracted over 100 million viewers worldwide. After the Eurovision Song Contest, Birk-Petersen has worked as a

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

for the pharmaceutical companies

Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...

and

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

. Since 2019, she works as a senior director at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. She is also the Head Counsel of the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Personal life

Birk-Petersen's mother is

Maleyka Abbaszadeh Maleyka Mehdi qizi Abbaszadeh ( az, Məleykə Abbaszadə, née Mustafayeva, born 1953, Baku) is the Chair of the State Students Admission Commission of Azerbaijan. Career Maleyka Abbaszadeh was born in Baku and attended Public School #189. In 19 ...

, who is the chairperson of the State Student Admission Commission of Azerbaijan. She is married to Ulrik Birk-Petersen, a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

diplomat whom she met in Washington, D.C., and currently resides in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

with her husband and their three children. She has previously lived in Østerbro,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birk-Petersen, Nargiz 1976 births American people of Azerbaijani descent Azerbaijani expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Azerbaijani female models Azerbaijani women television presenters Georgetown University Law Center alumni Khazar University alumni Lawyers from Baku Living people Takeda Pharmaceutical Company people University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Wayne State University Law School alumni

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links