April 15 marks the 41st anniversary of the passing of the prominent ophthalmologist-scientist, academician Zarifa Aliyeva. According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the research and significant achievements of academician Zarifa Aliyeva, who was born in the village of Shahtakhti in Nakhchivan, represent a special milestone in the history of medical science in Azerbaijan.
After graduating from the Azerbaijan Medical Institute, she continued her education at the Institute for Advanced Training of Physicians in Moscow. She began her career in 1949 as a researcher at the Azerbaijan Scientific-Research Institute for Advanced Training of Physicians and dedicated her entire life to the field of ophthalmology. During the 1940s and 1950s, eye diseases, particularly trachoma, were widespread in Azerbaijan. Zarifa Aliyeva devoted the initial phase of her scientific career to the treatment of trachoma, traveling to regions where the disease was most prevalent to identify outbreaks, lecture eye doctors, and conduct awareness campaigns among the population.
Her innovative use of synthomycin during the early stages of trachoma yielded successful results. In 1959, she successfully defended her PhD thesis on the topic "Treatment of trachoma with synthomycin in combination with other therapy methods." Her proposed treatment method was widely implemented across the Republic and played a crucial role in the eradication of trachoma as a disease in Azerbaijan. Zarifa Aliyeva also pioneered research into the professional pathology of the organ of vision, establishing the world's first scientific-research laboratory to study how chemical and electronic industry environments affect eyesight. In 1977, she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences, and in 1981, she became the first female scientist to receive the M.I. Averbakh Prize of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences.
Zarifa Aliyeva was the spouse of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev and the mother of President Ilham Aliyev. Beyond her scientific contributions, she was known for her extensive social activities, serving as a member of the Soviet Peace Committee and the Presidium of the All-Union Society of Ophthalmologists. She passed away on April 15, 1985, in Moscow. In 1994, her remains were transferred from Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery to Baku and reinterred in the Alley of Honor, next to the grave of her father, Aziz Aliyev.
