Today is a day of Remembrance of Zarifa Aziz gizi Aliyeva. An outstanding scientist, a wonderful woman. Exactly thirty years ago, on April 15, 1985, she died.
Day.Az asked Aleksandr Alexeyevich Ivanov, a man who was on duty for many years, as an officer of the State Security Committee to ensure the protection of the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, candidate member of the Politburo, the national leader Heydar Aliyev, to share his memories of Aliyeva. He also headed the department of bodyguards, when Heydar Aliyev was a member of the Politburo, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.
And not surprisingly, there are a lot of memories of Alexander Alexeyevich about the family of the national leader and, in particular, Zarifa. As well as unique photos. For example, a picture of Heydar Aliyev with a personal signature, placed by him on May 10, 1982, on the day of his 60th birthday, has been standing on the desktop of Ivanov. "He then received his second star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, says Alexander Alexeevich. - And until late at night people came to his office with congratulations, and Zarifa Aliyeva was calling all the time, could not wait for him at home..."
"The main feature of the character of Zarifa was a concern for the people who were next to her," says Alexander Alexeevich. According to him, she never distinguished people by status, as evidenced by at least the fact that, after seeing Heydar Aliyev at work, she sat down to drink tea with the staff working in the house. Being on vacation in Yalta, where there were many members of the Politburo, only staff from the country house of Heydar Aliyev ate at home, rather than at workplace canteens, which was done on the initiative of Zarifa.
She had so much energy that it was enough for all. Even at home, she had time to carry out her research activities, in the country house in Baku she personally conducted the tests and experiments. At a tire factory she had a room, where she would meet with workers and to each one she was attentive.
"She took care of everyone. I felt her kindness towards me often. Once, after the shift, Zarifa Aliyeva asked me to go to the kitchen and handed me a small package. I was embarrassed, but she said: "It's for your wife. When a woman is in a position, you need to eat seafood, then the child's eyes are blue." It was very touching to feel her care, and in memory of this event, my son really has blue eyes. For Zarifa, everybody was like a member of the family, like family. She treated everyone with great kindness and care," says Alexander Alexeevich.
With regard to relations in the Aliyev family, then, as admitted by Ivanov, the family of the national leader has always been and will be a benchmark for him. Sundays were an outlet - they loved to spend time together. Zarifa had an undescribable maternal feeling. Her love of children was just fantastic. She loved them boundlessly very much and took care of them.
With regard to the relations of Zarifa to Heydar Aliyev - it was something special. She always wanted to please him, to cheer him up. At home all birthdays and holidays were certainly celebrated. For the sake of her husband, she would sit at the piano, sing, and he, as a rule, was singing with her.
"Zarifa, even when very ill, tried not to show her poor health. No matter how late Heydar Aliyev came back home, she always met him. And if we were leaving on a foreign trip, there were a lot of them, even before it was notified about the arrival, she herself contacted the airport by SCS to find out whether the plane had landed.
A very vivid impression was left by those moments when she called the reception of Heydar Aliyev and asked to connect with him. As soon as he was told that Zarifa Aliyeva was calling, there would be a change in his face, as if it was about their meeting, left everything and came to the phone, smiling. But in public they were always addressing each other formally, by name and patronymic," Ivanov said.
The death of Zarifa became an irreplaceable loss for Heydar Aliyev, Alexander Alexeevich said. He was grieving deeply, went to the cemetery for 40 days, even if he left work before dawn. He was often thinking about her, about different episodes, moments of their lives ..."
"Her kindness was boundless. I remember just a few days before her death - she was already in the hospital - when Heydar Aliyev came out of Zarifa’s room, I always went to say goodbye to her. So one day I was saying good bye, and she asked me: "Sasha, have you eaten something?». So I, being without any ulterior motive, replied, "Zarifa, well, what are you worrying about? All is well." It turned out that after our talk she dialed home and asked the cook why Sasha had been hungry. As soon as we entered the house, the cook with tears in his eyes, asked:"Why did you complain to Zarifa Aliyeva that you did not eat? It's all in fact ready, we've been waiting for you." That's her own way that she perceived my answer. There "were no limits to her care." Alexander Ivanov says.
Speaking about relations between the Aliyev spouses, Alexander Ivanov told an interesting story, which characterizes her in the best way 'as a loving wife and a shrewd woman. According to our interlocutor, if you look at Heydar Aliyev’s life in pictures, you can see that he was always in a formal suit. Zarifa Aliyeva also was very solid and exquisitely dressed, guided by personal taste, with careful and reverent approach to the selection of clothing, accessories, even within the home, she was always in a dress and very good looking.
"So, once in a store she liked a men's Finnish suir consisting of a bright light jacket and trousers. And I said that it would be nice for Heydar Aliyev to wear something like that, when he goes on business trips, visits to cotton farms. "Lets buy it for you, and you show it to him?" she said. I returned to Baku, and soon we had another trip to the region. Arriving there on the day before Heydar Aliyev, I met him at the train, wearing this suit. I did not know how he would react, since a couple of minutes before he arrived, my boss had seen me and told me that I would disappoint him with my look, because I was looking informal. Heydar Aliyev got off the train, we got in the car and he said to me: "What a stylish man you are! We would arrive in Baku, call a tailor and show him this suit. "Thus, such a suit appeared in the locker room of Heydar Aliyev through Zarifa’s trick. By the way, soon other members of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijan Communist Party began to wear them," Alexander Alexeevixh was smiling when telling this story.
While in Baku, Zarifa often attended various events with Heydar Aliyev, travelled to regions with him. And they always carried with them something to help people, and when someone came up with a request, she tried to do this for them, appealing to Heydar Aliyev.
But there was another incident that just struck Alexander Alexeyevich.
"This case has been described by Elmira Akhundova in her book "The Age and personality", which was dedicated to Heydar Aliyev.
Zarifa Aliyeva would travel only by regular flights. Once, when we were supposed to fly from Moscow to Baku, she called me the night before and said that the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Tsvigun, was also flying to Baku and Heydar Aliyev said that we could fly with him on a charter plane.
On board in the first salon there were Tsvigun and Zarifa, while in the second were his assistant, the security worker and me. Even during takeoff I heard a strange sound, and soon I noticed that the plane was not gaining height, but only circling over Moscow. It turned out that the chassis was not logged in to the end, which did not allow the plane to gain height.
Tsvigun opened the door to our cabin and asked the crew to find out what was happening. According to the rules, when a protected person was on board, the cabin was not closed. But the guy from Tsvigun’s security group could not reach the crew, which, of course, excited everyone.
Zarifa Aliyeva came and sat down beside me and asked what was going on, but since I did not have information, I could not answer and decided to distract her, I began reading jokes from the newspaper. And she said: "You do not fool my head ... What will happen to Heydar Aliyev, to the children?" And not a word about herself! Even in this situation, she always thought only about family, loved ones. After 45 minutes of flight, the commander of the ship was able to land the plane, but because the chassis had not opened, the ladder was not able to operate, and we organized some stairs. Tsvigun waited for a backup plane, but Zarifa Aliyeva refused, telling me: "No more special flights, what is the first flight scheduled to Baku?" A fragile, caring woman in such a difficult situation showed a strong masculine character that just struck me," Ivanov said.
"I honored and loved her very much, she was a person with an extraordinary soul…" Alexander Alexeyevich finished his story.
