Leyla Mammadbeyova (1909, Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

 – 1989, Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

) was the first Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

i female aviator

Aviator

An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

. She was also the first female pilot in Southern Europe

Southern Europe

The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...

 and the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

.

Career

Mammadbeyova was trained as a professional aviator at the Baku Airclub and performed her first flight in 1931. She continued her education at an aviators school in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in 1932. On 17 March 1933, Mammadbeyova became the second parachutist woman in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 (after Nina Kamneva) having jumped off the Polikarpov Po-2

Polikarpov Po-2

The Polikarpov Po-2 served as a general-purpose Soviet biplane, nicknamed Kukuruznik for maize; thus, 'maize duster' or 'crop duster'), NATO reporting name "Mule"...

 plane at Moscow's Tushino Airfield. In 1934 she won the parachute jump competition held among representatives of the South Caucasus

South Caucasus

The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...

 nations. By 1941 she was Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

 of the Soviet Army

Soviet Army

The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...

.

Mammadbeyova continued her career as a pilot and instructor at the Baku Airclub. She was refused to fight in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 as at the time she was raising four children (she had six overall). Despite the Baku Airclub closing down due to war conditions, Mammadbeyova managed to launch glider and parachutist courses of her own, where she trained hundreds of combat pilots and around 4,000 paratrooper

Paratrooper

Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...

s. Two of her students later became Heroes of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

. Mammadbeyova performed her last flight in 1949 and worked as Vice-Chair of the DOSAAF

DOSAAF

DOSAAF was a paramilitary society in the Soviet Union, Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Fleet . The society was preserved in a number of post-Soviet Republics, e.g., in Russia and Belarus...

's Baku branch until 1961.

Mammadbeyova's elder son Firudin fought in World War II, and her younger son Khanlar took part in the Nagorno-Karabakh War

Nagorno-Karabakh War

The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...

, both as combat pilots.

Leyla Mammadbeyova became a living icon while still in her twenties. Her courage and skills were celebrated through media and the arts. Her character inspired the literary works of Mikayil Mushfig

Mikayil Mushfig

Mikayil Mushfig , born Mikayil Ismayilzadeh was an Azerbaijani poet of the 1930s. During the Stalinist purges in the USSR, Mikayil Mushfig was arrested and executed by the Soviet authorities at the age of 30.-Life and poetry:Mikayil Mushfig was born in the city of Baku of Baku Governorate in 1908...

 (Afshan, 1933 and Shoyla, 1934) and Samad Vurgun (Leyla, 1935), as well as the movie Ismat (dir. Mikayil Mikayilov, 1934). In 1995 a documentary on Mammadbeyova's life and career entitled Leyla and directed by Nazim Rza Israfiloglu was released by Azerbaijantelefilm.