Nazlı Nəcəfova

Nazli Najafova (Azerbaijani: Nazlı Nəcəfova; 1890–1977) was a pioneering female educator in Azerbaijan. The founder of several academic programs for girls, including the first women's pedagogical school in her home city of Nakhchivan, and a forceful advocate for women's literacy, she was frequently targeted by religious leaders and other authorities for her work. After spending 10 years in exile in Kazakhstan, she returned to Azerbaijan in the late 1940s and continued her educational mission.

Biography Nazli Najafova was born Nazli Tahirova in Nakhchivan, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1890. She attended the Empress Alexandra Russian Muslim Boarding School for Girls in Baku, becoming one of the first students to graduate in 1908. She was notably influenced by the women's rights activist Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, whom she met in Baku.

In 1921, her home came under attack by a gang that wanted to kill her, but she was away attending the First Congress of Azerbaijani Teachers and the attack was unsuccessful.

Her husband, —who had supported her in her educational work—was arrested as an "enemy of the people" in 1937. She was then deported to Kazakhstan, where she continued to teach while working in a labor brigade. She returned to Azerbaijan in 1947. Najafov continued to teach after her return from exile, first in Goychay and then back in Nakhchivan. She died in 1977.