Today marks 41 years since the passing of prominent ophthalmologist and academician Zarifa Aliyeva.

Axar.az reports that Zarifa Aliyeva was born on April 28, 1923, in the village of Shahtakhti in the Sharur district of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

Her father, Aziz Aliyev, a distinguished public and state figure, played a key role in shaping her outlook on life. She was also the wife of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, the architect of modern independent Azerbaijan.

Zarifa Aliyeva made significant contributions to medical science in Azerbaijan. After graduating from the Azerbaijan Medical Institute, she continued her education in Moscow at the Institute for Advanced Medical Training. She began her professional career in 1949 as a researcher at the Azerbaijan Scientific Research Institute for Advanced Medical Training and devoted her life to ophthalmology.

She founded the world’s first research laboratory focused on occupational eye diseases, laying the foundation for a new field—occupational ophthalmology. She later defended her doctoral dissertation on vision disorders among workers in Azerbaijan’s chemical industry and was awarded a Doctor of Medical Sciences degree in 1977.

In 1980, she was named an Honored Scientist, and in 1981, she received the prestigious M.I. Averbakh Prize, becoming the first woman to earn this award in the field of ophthalmology.

In 1983, she was elected a full member of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. She also authored numerous textbooks and monographs.

Zarifa Aliyeva passed away on April 15, 1985, in Moscow. In 1994, her remains were transferred from Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery to Baku and buried in the Alley of Honor next to her father's grave.

Zarifa Aliyeva is the mother of President Ilham Aliyev.