There is no more wealth than human kindness

 

Author: VK

 

Yesterday, Azerbaijan celebrated the 90-year anniversary of the birth of the scientist-ophthalmologist, academician Zarifa Aliyeva - the wife of the former President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and the mother of the current president, Ilham Aliyev.

 

 "She was a qualified doctor and at the same time very friendly person. These two factors should be combined in each physician. A doctor should be a professional to serve the people. At the same time, a doctor has to be a good man. Zarifa had thoughts and articles on the subject. She had very valuable thoughts on the ethical behavior of the doctor. I believe these thoughts even today should be the basis for each doctor. She was the wife of the great leader Heydar Aliyev. She was a pillar of him, supported him in all matters. The atmosphere, the environment in our family, the relationship between the parents, of course, educated us", Ilham Aliyev shared his memories on a holiday at the Azerbaijan State Musical Theatre.

 

 Zarifa Aliyeva was born on April 28, 1923 in the Azerbaijani village of Shahtakhti. She graduated from Azerbaijan State Medical Institute and completed a course of specialization in ophthalmology at the Central Institute of Advanced Medical Studies in Moscow. She dedicated her research to exploring the use of a new antibiotic in the treatment of trachoma and its complications. After completing this series of studies, Aliyeva took up the study of glaucoma. But it was not a purely theoretical research – she performed a lot of operations, advised patients and taught at the university.

 

 Since 1968, she started to specifically address issues of professional pathology of view. And she worked directly in industry, conducting examinations there, putting experiments on laboratory animals at the factories of Baku and Sumgait. As a result, she was able to identify patterns of exposure to harmful substances in the eye. After her doctorate Zarifa Aliyeva initiated the establishment of Azerbaijan's first specialized research laboratory to study the professional pathology. It was a unique research unit deployed directly in the production - the Baku Plant of air conditioners.

 

In 1981, for a series of scientific research in the field of occupational eye pathology professor Aliyeva was awarded the highest award in the field of ophthalmology – Averbach Award of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. She was the first woman scientist to be awarded such a high award. Aliyeva also studied the possibility of prevention and control of eye injuries, the treatment of malignant tumors of the eye, has become one of the authors of the collective fundamental work "Therapeutic ophthalmology," which is required reading for every ophthalmologist in everyday practice.

 

 Aliyeva also pioneered the development of a new direction for diagnosis of diseases of the body by changes of the nature of the iris - iridology. However, she gave a lot of time to studying the problems associated with the role of a doctor in the community and moral principles in his career. In 1983, Aliyeva became a member of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. Her untimely death cut her scientific research. She died on April 15, 1985 in Moscow.

 

In the Russian capital city her anniversary was celebrated at the conference hall of the Central Clinical Hospital of the University Housing Hospital. “Trachoma was a problem in Azerbaijan, and not only in Azerbaijan, but also a problem of the other 14 countries that were part of the Union”,  Peter Litvitskiy, Vice President of the Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, said. “Zarifa Aliyeva struggled with glaucoma, and this problem exists not only in Azerbaijan, but also throughout the entire world, and it is still in its development. She was seriously engaged in occupational diseases of sight - there was a doctoral dissertation. And this problem exists until now, that is, this is not a problem of one nation. This is a person who worked for the country, for the world, even though it was divided, but everyone perfectly understood that. And I know that articles by her were ordered from different countries, advanced countries, Europe, America, and so on. Professor Aliyeva worked in our university, and she is closely associated with us, too, with the world of eye diseases. When we put a robe on her, on the same day Professor Aliyeva handed over a check for more than two million rubles, and the money was transferred to the expenditure of purchasing a device which today is used for training representatives of over seventy countries. This surgical setting is expensive, it is at the Center for Continuing Professional Education. And all the students deal with this device”.

 

Polad Bul-Bul Oglu, ambassador of Azerbaijan to Moscow, said: “Not without reason do I recall the high positions and titles of her husband Heydar Aliyev, because it puts a lot of responsibility on the family. At the time there was no such institution of first lady, as it is customary now to host her, to talk to her, to make a report. But being a wife of the head of the republic was also responsible. Especially because Zarifa Aliyeva worked as ophthalmologist, she was in charge of a large department, a laboratory, and did a lot, as far as I know, to eradicate trachoma and other eye diseases in Azerbaijan. She was very attentive and responsive to people, especially the young graduate students. She created around her a whole school of young doctors. I was very lucky in life, because I communicated with Zarifa. The fact is that she was a very intelligent, I would say, creative person. Perhaps this came from her family. Today we have seen pictures of her mother and father. Her father was engaged in party and economic activity at the time of the Soviet Union. In the most difficult time of the war, he was sent to lead Dagestan. Dagestan, as you know, is a very complex area, and it was especially so at the time, when the war started, and the Nazis were eager to conquer the Caucasus. And Aziz Aliyev was sent to be the head of Dagestan in order to stabilize the situation and to create opportunities for normal business operation during the war. It was a very big responsibility and a very great sign of confidence. I was fortunate to participate in Makhachkala at the opening of Aziz Aliyev Street, unveiling a plaque on the house where he lived, and I was witness to the fact that in Dagestan people live with a deep respect for his name in those matters where he was working in Dagestan. To this day the memory of his good deeds is in the hearts of the Dagestani people. And I want to say that it was a difficult time, the time was intense, but nevertheless, he was able to educate their children, to instil in them a love of culture, make them intelligent people. In addition to the fact that it is possible to be educated, you can be a good specialist; this, as we now say, "human chemistry" in human relationships determines a great deal. Zarifa Aliyeva was a person who could reach out to anyone. And she was very friendly by nature. Therefore, people were drawn to her. She is the mother of our current president. Of course, the education that a person receives in the family is the foundation of everything, I think. Despite the excellent education at MGIMO in Moscow, I think, of course, the current president received his main education in his family, from his mother, from his dad…

Zarifa Aliyeva played a very big role in my life. She was the wife of the head of the republic, Heydar Aliyev, and she supported all the artists who began to appear in the culture in the 1960s in Azerbaijan. I think we should always retain the memory of such people. The great poet of the Caucasus Rasul Gamzatov said that if we shoot at the past with a gun, the future will shoot at us with a cannon. Therefore, we should always remember those who laid the foundation of our current relationship”.