Shovkat Salimova

Shovkat Salimova (Azerbaijani: , Russian: , 25 December 1920 – 2 July 1999) was Azerbaijan's first female ship captain and the first Muslim woman to captain a ship in the Middle East.

Biography Salimova was born on 25 December 1920 in Lahıc, Ismayilli, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. She grew up in Baku and was the eldest of ten children in her family. Her father was an oil worker.

Inspired by a portrait of Anna Shetinina, Salimova studied at the Baku Maritime School. She graduated in 1940 and was assigned to the Black Sea Shipping Company. delivering weaponry, ammunition and oil to the Soviet front near Stalingrad, USSR, and transporting the wounded soldiers to Baku and Krasnovodsk. and the first Muslim woman to captain a ship in the Middle East. She died on 2 July 1999 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Honours

Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class Order of the Red Star