Zuleykha Seyidmammadova ( az, Züleyxa Mirhəbib qızı Seyidməmmədova, russian: Зулейха Мир-Габиб кызы Сеидмамедова; 22 March 1919 – 1994) was one of 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 ...
female pilots and the first
Azerbaijani woman to fly in combat.
Seyidmammadova was born in
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 ...
on 22 March 1919. She gained her pilot's license in 1935 at a flying club in her hometown and later at the aviation academy in
Zhukovsky near Moscow. In 1938 she became qualified as a petrochemical engineer, but chose to pursue aviation as her main career.
During World War II she was the regimental navigator of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's military aviation regiments founded by
Marina Raskova
Marina Mikhaylovna Raskova ( rus, Мари́на Миха́йловна Раско́ва, , mɐˈrʲinə mʲɪˈxajləvnə rɐˈskovə; née Malinina; 28 March 1912 – 4 January 1943) was the first woman in the Soviet Union to achieve the diploma ...
. Throughout the war, she fought in over 40 aerial battles and carried out over 500 missions. During the war she would inform the commissar as well as Tamara Kazarinova, the commander of her regiment, about the pilots attitudes towards their leadership.
After the war she was demobilized and in 1952 she became the Minister of Social Security of the Azerbaijan SSR. Seyidməmmədova died in
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 ...
in 1994.
Awards
*
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
* Two
Orders of the Red Banner of Labour
*
Order of the Patriotic War
The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...
in the 2nd Class
*
Order of the Red Star
The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...
* Two
Orders of the Badge of Honor
See also
*
Leyla Mammadbeyova
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 Azerbaijani ...
– first Azerbaijani woman pilot, but did not fly in combat
*
Ziba Ganiyeva – Azerbaijani woman sniper
References
1919 births
1994 deaths
Azerbaijani women aviators
Military personnel from Baku
Women air force personnel of the Soviet Union
Soviet military personnel of World War II
Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
Soviet women in politics
20th-century Azerbaijani women politicians
20th-century Azerbaijani politicians
Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University alumni
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of the Red Star
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
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