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Zuleykha Seyidmammadova (Azerbaijani: Züleyxa Seyidməmmədova, Russian: Зулейха Габиб кызы Сеидмамедова; 22 March 1919 – 1999) was one of the firstAzerbaijan female pilots and the first Azerbaijani woman to fly in combat.
Seyidmammadova was born in Baku on 22 March 1919. She gained her pilot's license in 1935 at a flying club in her hometown and later at the aviation academy in Zhukovsky near Moscow. In 1938 she became qualified as a petrochemical engineer, but chose to pursue aviation as her main career.
During World War II she was the regimental navigator of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, one of the three women's military aviation regiments founded by Marina Raskova. Throughout the war, she fought in over 40 aerial battles and carried out over 500 missions. During the war she would inform the commissar as well as Tamara Kazarinova, the commander of her regiment, about the pilots attitudes towards their leadership.
After the war she was demobilized and in 1952 she became the Minister of Social Security of the Azerbaijan SSR. Seyidməmmədova died in Baku in 1999.
Awards
- Order of Lenin
- Two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour
- Order of the Patriotic War in the 2nd Class
- Order of the Red Star
- Two Orders of the Badge of Honor