Kamran Aziz

Kamran Aziz (1922 – 7 March 2017) was a Cypriot musician and pharmacist. She was the first female composer and the first female pharmacist in Turkish Cypriot society. She made significant contributions to Turkish Cypriot folk music to the extent that she started the genre in its modern sense. She was also one of the first female musicians to play in public and pioneered the playing and teaching of western music, along with her colleague, Jale Derviş.

Early life Aziz was born in 1922. She was the daughter of Mehmet Aziz, a doctor credited with eradicating malaria in Cyprus; her elder sister, Türkan Aziz, later became the first chief nurse on the island. She started her musical education at the age of 8 by learning how to play the piano. She graduated from American Academy Nicosia.

Musical career Aziz started her musical broadcasts on the British Military Radio in 1945.

Death Aziz was hospitalised with pulmonary complications in 2017 and remained in Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in North Nicosia for a month. She died on 7 March 2017 at the age of 95, one day after having been discharged from the hospital. Her funeral prayer was held in Ismail Safa Mosque and she was buried in Nicosia. Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı and Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün published messages of condolence in reaction to her death.