Marziyya Davudova

Plaque on building where Azerbaijani actress Marziyya Davudova lived in Baku

Marziyya Davudova was born in Astrakhan, Russia, and graduated from the Jamiyyat-i Kheyriyya Islamiyya school. In 1917, she debuted as an actress at the local Tatar Drama Theatre. In 1918, her talent was noticed by Azerbaijani actor Huseyn Arablinski who was visiting Astrakhan at the time. After the play and a short interview, Arablinski invited Davudova to pursue an acting career in Baku.[1] In 1920, she settled in Azerbaijan and began acting at the Azerbaijan State Academic Drama Theatre.

Many of her early roles portrayed the government-propagated heroic and independent image of the new-era Soviet woman, as seen in Sevil by Jafar Jabbarli, Hayat by Mirza Ibrahimov, Lyubov Yarovaya by Konstantin Trenyov, etc.[2]

In 1949, Davudova became People's Artist of the USSR. Throughout her career, she also starred in films such as Bakhtiyar, Haji Gara, Bir aila, Bakinin ishiglari, Bir mahallali iki oghlan, Koroghlu, Asl dost, etc.[3] Her last role was that of the Mother in a theatre play based on Alexis Parnis's Aphrodite's Island in 1961.

Marziyya Davudova was the partner of actor and director Abbas Mirza Sharifzadeh, who was executed by a Soviet Union firing squad for his political activities and connections. She was the mother of actress Firangiz Sharifova and great-grandmother of Eurovision 2011 winner Eldar Gasimov. Davudova died in Baku, aged 60, from undisclosed causes.

• List of People's Artists of the Azerbaijan SSR

• Marziyya Davudova on IMDb