2024-10-06 23:45:19
In the 20s of the last century, an Azerbaijani woman who was not only able to get an education and become an engineer, but also act in films, was considered a miracle. However, Izzet Orujeva managed to write her name in the history of cinema. And first of all, because she is the first Azerbaijani actress who, without fear of condemnation and threats, starred in a movie without a veil.
“They call me the first Azerbaijani film actress. Sometimes I think: is this really true? In general, was I an actress? I played, no – I lived two women’s destinies in front of a movie camera. These women were my contemporaries, or rather, my peers…” , – Izzet Orduzheva once said.
As Day.Az reports with reference to AZERTAC, September 16 marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of Izzet Orujeva.
Izzet Orujeva was born in 1909 in the city of Baku. After graduating from the Institute of Petrochemistry, she continued her scientific career at the Institute of Petrochemical Processes. In the late 1960s, she headed the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences.
Izzet Orujeva entered the history of national culture as the first film actress to create the screen image of an Azerbaijani woman in the films “Seville” and “Almaz”. Jafar Jabbarli brought her to the cinema. He wrote the script for the film “Seville” based on the play of the same name, which was based on the theme of the struggle for women’s rights, freedom and equality, as well as the collapse of the old world with its traditional age-old foundations. In the East at the beginning of the 20th century, not every woman would have dared to play the main role in this film.
After this success, the playwright writes a script for the film “Diamond” based on the play of the same name and directs it himself. Jafar Jabbarli again invites Izzet Orujeva to play the main role. But the sudden death of the playwright does not allow him to carry out his plans. Jafar Jabbarli’s colleagues complete his work, and Izzet Orujeva creates the image of an Azerbaijani woman in the film “Almaz”.
After this, the young actress leaves the cinema and becomes a chemist. In 1932, she graduated from the Azerbaijan Red Banner Oil Institute named after. M. Azizbekova with a degree in petrochemical technologist. She began her career as a laboratory assistant at the Azerbaijan Research Institute of Oil Refining Industry, where she worked until 1949. In 1947, Orujeva defended her candidate’s thesis, and in 1962 – her doctorate, received the title of professor, and became the head of the Institute of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the AzSSR. She then worked at the Institute of Additive Chemistry, where the additive laboratory is currently named after her. In 1972, Izzet Orujeva was one of the first women in the republic to become an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR.
Izzet Hanim passed away on April 22, 1983. She was buried in the II Alley of Honor in Baku.