- Mehriban Aliyeva
-
Mehriban Aliyeva 
Aliyeva greeting Dmitry Medvedev in Baku First Lady of Azerbaijan Incumbent Assumed office
31 October 2003Preceded by None Succeeded by None Personal details Born 26 August 1964
Baku, AzerbaijanNationality Azerbaijan Political party New Azerbaijan Party Spouse(s) Ilham Aliyev Children 3 Religion Shia Islam Website www.mehriban-aliyeva.org Mehriban Arif qizi Aliyeva (Azerbaijani: Mehriban Arif qızı Əliyeva) (born 26 August 1964, Baku) is the head of Azerbaijan's Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the wife of its current president Ilham Aliyev. The Sunday Times, writing in 2005 about Mrs. Aliyeva's decision to run for the Azerbaijani parliament, described her as already wielding "considerable influence," and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation as "a powerful and wealthy institution set up to safeguard the late president’s legacy and support a number of educational and charitable projects."[1]
Contents
Early life and marriage
Mehriban Aliyeva (née Pashayeva) was born into a family described in Wikileaks cables as "the single most powerful family in Azerbaijan." Her grandfather was noted Azerbaijani writer Mir Jalal Pashayev. Her uncle Hafiz Pashayev was Azerbaijan's first Ambassador to the United States. Mrs. Aliyeva's father Arif Pashayev is Rector of the National Aviation Academy in Baku,[2] and her mother, Aida Imanguliyeva (1939–92) was a prominent philologist and arabist.[3]
Mehriban Aliyeva finished secondary school in 1981 and married Ilham Aliyev, the son of Heydar Aliyev, in 1983.[3] She continued her studies, in which she excelled,[4] at the Azerbaijan Medical University and later at the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, from which she graduated in 1988.[3][1] From 1988–92, Mehriban Aliyeva worked at the State Research Institute of Eye Diseases of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow, which was led by Dr. Mikhail Krasnov.[3][5] Two articles in The Times in 2005 described her as a "qualified physician"[4] and "former eye doctor."[1]
The Aliyevs have two daughters, Leyla (born in 1986) and Arzu (born in 1989) and a son Heydar (born in 1997). Leyla is the editor of Baku magazine, published by Azerbaijani Russian businessman Aras Agalarov, and is married to his son Emin Agalarov.[6]
Career
In 1995, she established the Friends of Azerbaijani Culture Foundation.[3] In 1996, with financial support from Chevron, the foundation gave lifetime awards to six representatives of Azerbaijani art and culture. The foundation also sponsored performances in Baku of music by Antonio Vivaldi and George Gershwin.[7]
After the death of her father-in-law Heydar Aliyev in 2003, Mrs. Aliyeva established, in 2004, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which focuses on studying and holding events to promote Heydar Aliyev's political ideology. In Azerbaijan, according to a recent news article, "The HAF builds more schools than Azerbaijan's Ministry of Education, more hospitals than the Ministry of Health, and conducts more cultural events than the Ministry of Culture."[8] The Heydar Aliyev Foundation also sponsors projects outside Azerbaijan, including helping to finance renovations at the Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles, and Strasbourg Cathedral.[8][9][10]
Also in 2004, Aliyeva became a designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, to honor her work promoting oral and musical traditions.[11]
In Azerbaijan's 2005 parliamentary elections, she was elected to the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. She had previously broken with tradition to help campaign for her husband in 2003, when he ran for President of Azerbaijan.[12]
Awards
Mrs. Aliyeva has received many awards for her humanitation work, including France's prestigious Legion d'Honneur, honoring what French President Nicolas Sarkozy called her "outstanding service and loyalty to France."[9]
In 2010, UNESCO's Director-General Irina Bokova awarded Aliyeva the UNESCO Mozart Medal "for strengthening the intercultural dialogue".[13][14]
Diplomatic cables leak
One US embassy dispatch leaked by WikiLeaks in 2010 devoted substantial space to Mehriban Aliyeva in the context of discussing the Pashayevs, her family of origin, noting that Mrs. Aliyeva is the family's "most famous member."[2]
Describing her leadership of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the cable said:[2]
Aside from being the President's wife, she is President of the Heydar Aliyev Fund, which proclaims to be a humanitarian organization constructing schools, hospitals, and youth centers, among other projects. These projects provide a constant array of goodwill photo opportunities and advertisements for the First Lady, as she cuts ribbons on new schools and cultural centers.
The cable's remarks about Mrs. Aliyeva's clothing choices, and its claims she used botox and had cosmetic surgery, were widely reported.[15][16][17]
References
- ^ a b c Franchetti, Mark (6 November 2005). "First lady of oil is power in the land". The Sunday Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article587011.ece. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ a b c "US embassy cables: Who owns what in Azerbaijan". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/245758. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "Azerbaijan's first lady Mehriban Aliyeva celebrating her birthday today (August 28, 2008)". Today.az. http://www.today.az/news/society/47196.html. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ a b Mattin, David (8 November 2008). "The Face". The Times. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article1723550.ece. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ "Obituary of Mikhail Krasnov (PPT)". Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis. http://www.acad-ophthal-int.org/downloads/krasnov_07.ppt. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ "The World's Billionaires: #962 Aras Agalarov". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Aras-Agalarov_7DHZ.html. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ "Friends' Foundation Continues to Stimulate Azerbaijani Arts". Azerbaijan International. http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/44_folder/44_articles/44_friends.html. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ a b Abbasov, Shahin. "Azerbaijan: Foundation Finances Renovations at Versailles, Strasbourg". http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav082709a.shtml. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ a b Zamejc, Anna. "Azerbaijani First Lady Given Prestigious French Award". Radio Free Europe. http://www.rferl.org/content/Azerbaijani_First_Lady_Given_Prestigious_French_Award/1960898.html. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ Abbasov, Shahin. "Azerbaijan: Ex-Guggenheim Director Betting on Bilbao-Style Project for Baku". Eurasianet.org. http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020310.shtml. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ Mehriban Aliyeva designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Oral and Musical Traditions. Unesco.org. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 18 September 2006.
- ^ "CNN World View broadcasts report about Azerbaijan's first lady". Today.Az. 9 May 2011. http://www.today.az/news/society/85831.html. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
- ^ "UNESCO Director – General. Irina Bokova inaugurates the 2nd Gabala International Music Festival in Azerbaijan". http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/director-general/news-single-view/news/irina_bokova_inaugurates_the_2nd_gabala_international_music_festival_in_azerbaijan/. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
- ^ Azerbaijan's first lady presented with UNESCO's Mozart Gold Medal. Today.az. 31 July 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
- ^ Luke Harding. "WikiLeaks cable sticks the knife into Azerbaijan's first lady | World news". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/12/wikileaks-cables-azerbaijan-first-lady. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ "Photo Gallery: How the US Sees Select World Politicians". Der Spiegel Online. 28 November 2010. http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-62152-10.html. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
- ^ "Who's Who in WikiLeaks". Foreign Policy. 2 December 2010. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/12/01/whos_who_in_wikileaks?page=0%2C17. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
External links
- (English)(Azerbaijani)(Russian) Mehriban Aliyeva's Official Website
- (English) Azerbaijans first lady. A role model for Muslim women. (The Washington Times)
- (English) timesonline.co.uk on Mehriban Aliyeva
- Photos of Mehriban Aliyeva
Categories:- 1964 births
- Members of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan
- Spouses of national leaders
- People from Baku
- Living people
- New Azerbaijan Party politicians
- Azerbaijani women in politics
- Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
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