Najiba Majid gizi Behbudova was born on 6 January 1914 in Tiflis. She is originally from Karabakh. She was the elder sister of the famous singer Rashid Behbudov. Her father, Majid Behbudov, was known as a folk singer (khanande). Her mother, Firuza Vakilova, worked as a teacher. At the age of six she began attending a labour school in Tiflis. When Najiba khanim was nine years old, alongside her schooling she became a member of the drama and dance clubs of the club named after Narimanov. She finished school in 1930. In 1931 she came to Baku and enrolled at the Hydrology Technical School there. As an auditor, she attended Bulbul's class at the Conservatory and acquired certain professional qualities of vocal performance. Her voice was a mezzo-soprano. She even performed as a singer in concerts. But in 1933, after her mother passed away, she returned to Tiflis. Sometime later she joined the troupe of the Mirza Fatali Akhundzade Tiflis Azerbaijani Theatre. At first she performed in plays as a guest actress. From 1 November 1937 to 9 May 1939 she was on the theatre's regular acting staff. For a time she worked at the Kolkhoz and Sovkhoz Theatre in the Adigeni district of Georgia, an area settled by Ottoman Turks and Azerbaijanis.
