Shafiga Akhundova, Azerbaijani Composer, first professional female author of an opera in the East (died 2013)

Shafiga Akhundova was a prominent Azerbaijani composer, the first professional female author of an opera in the East and People’s Artist of Azerbaijan. Akhundova was born into a family of an eminent cultural figure Gulam Akhundov in Shaki in 1924. Gulam Bagir oglu Akhundov, who was a public servant and intellectual of his time, worked as the first secretary of Shaki between 1917 and 1920, while her mother was a housewife.

January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 344 days remain until the end of the year.