İzzət Oruczadə

Izzet Khanim Mirzaaga Orujova (Azerbaijani: İzzət Xanım Mirzəağa Orucova; 16 September 1909 – 22 April 1983) was an Azerbaijani chemist and actress. She was the first Azerbaijani film actress, starring in the film Sevil (1929), and an important figure in the Azerbaijani women's rights movement for her portrayal of a liberated young woman in the film. She later enjoyed a distinguished academic career, being one of the first female chemistry students in Azerbaijan and the country's first female oil engineer. Her research on improving motor oils was important to the war effort of the Soviet Union in World War II and earnt her the Order of the Badge of Honour. Throughout her scientific career she authored hundreds of works, held talks internationally, and was awarded numerous other awards. Early life Izzet Khanim Mirza-Age Orujova was born in Baku on 16 September 1909. Orujova's father was a gardener named Mirza Agha. Orujova was the eldest of five children and had both sisters and brothers. Acting Orujova was at the age of 19 noticed while on a walk in Baku by film director and playwright Jafar Jabbarly. At the time, Idayatzadeh and Jabbarly were searching for actresses suitable for portraying the main role in the film Sevil (1929), a film based on a play of the same name by Jabbarly. Sevil is about themes such as freedom and equality, the struggle for women's rights, and the disappearance of the old world and its traditional customs; the main role in the film was an Azerbaijani girl named Sevil, who is kicked out by her husband Balash but takes fate in her own hands, studies in Moscow and takes off her hijab as a statement of liberation and emancipation. Though Balash attempts to return to Sevil after she returns from Moscow, she refuses him after having realized that she does not need him.