An event dedicated to the commemoration day of the ophthalmologist-scientist, a distinguished contributor to Azerbaijani medical science with her knowledge and skills, a noble woman, a devoted mother, academician Zarifa Aliyeva, was held at Ganja Medical College.

The conference began with the performance of the national anthem of Azerbaijan. Afterwards, the memory of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, ophthalmologist-scientist and academician Zarifa Aliyeva, and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the territorial integrity and freedom of Azerbaijan was honored with a minute of silence.

“Three great qualities—responsibility, diligence, and kindness—were united in the character of academician Zarifa Aliyeva, one of the most remarkable representatives of Azerbaijani intellectual women. Bearing with honor the great responsibility of being the daughter of the prominent statesman and scientist Aziz Aliyev, Zarifa Aliyeva distinguished herself with exemplary activity as both a physician and a scientist, writing her name in golden letters in the history of ophthalmology,” said the director of the college, Honored Doctor Mehman Rzayev, during the opening ceremony of the event.

He noted that the great scientist’s statement made many years ago — “A doctor must feel the patient’s pain as his own pain” — remains highly relevant even today.

Speakers who addressed the event emphasized that Z. Aliyeva overcame numerous challenges as a true scientist and achieved significant scientific accomplishments thanks to her intellectual responsibility toward her homeland, profound knowledge, and broad worldview. The speakers also noted that for a number of original discoveries in the study and prevention of eye injuries, Zarifa Aliyeva was awarded the M. Averbakh Prize of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. She became the first female scientist in the former USSR to receive this award.

At the end of the event, a documentary film titled “The Light of an Honorable Life” reflecting the life and activities of Academician Zarifa Aliyeva was shown, and students recited poems.