8 June, 2018
Sofia Basirzade - 100
On 8 June, 2018, together with the Ministry of Culture of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Union of Theatre Workers of Azerbaijan, the Academic National Drama Theatre and the State TheatreMuseum, there was celebrated the 100thanniversary of the outstanding actress, People’s Artist Sofia Basiradze.
The event, which was held at the National Academic Drama Theatre, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Theatre Workers, the Theatre Museum, lovers of Sophia Basirzade’s creative work, media representatives and family members. The participants of the event got acquainted with the exhibition organized in the foyer of the theatre, watched videos consisting of fragments of performances and films with the participation of Sofia Khanum.
The event was opened by the chairman of Union of Theatre Workers of Azerbaijan, artistic director and director of the National Academic Drama Theatre, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, Azer Pasha Nematov, shared his memories of SofaBasirzade and spoke about her contribution to the development of theatre and cinema in Azerbaijan. He noted: “Sofia Basirzade was born in Kazan in 1918. When she was two years old, her family moved to Baku. In 1936 she entered the Baku Theatre School named after Mirza Fatali Akhundzade. She had very good teachers at the drama school, such as JafarJabbarly, Huseyn Javid and Hajiaga Abbasov. Sophia khanym was a master who could play in all genres. I saw some of her roles, and we had a very good relationship. Sophia khanym was not only an actress, but also a person of high moral principles. She starred in more than forty films and played in more than one hundred performances.”
People’s artists Haji Ismayilov, Saida Guliyeva and Ilham Namig Kamal made speeches about Sophia Basirzade and shared their memories. They talked about the high skill and human qualities of Sophia Basirzade and said that her memory will forever remain in the hearts of the artists.
Speakers on behalf of the family Sofia Sophia Basirzade, Jamal Vezirov and Irada Vezirova thanked the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Theatre Workers, the Academic National Drama Theatre and the State Theatre Museum for organizing the event. Then the actors of the Academic National Drama Theatre showed the play “The Inspector”, dedicated to the memory of People’s Artist Sofia Basirzade.