Uzeyir Hajibeyov was an Azerbaijani composer, conductor, musicologist, publicist, playwright, teacher and public figure. People's Artist of the USSR (1938). Twice laureate of the second-degree 'Stalin' Prize (1941, 1946). Holder of the Order of Lenin (1938). He is the founder of Azerbaijan's modern professional musical art. A full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR (1945), professor (1940), rector of the Azerbaijan Conservatoire (1928–1929, 1939–1948), chairman of the Composers' Union of the Azerbaijan SSR (1938–1948), and deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st and 2nd convocations (1937, 1941). A member of the CPSU from 1938. He is the author of the anthem of the Azerbaijan SSR and of the national anthem of Azerbaijan, and the composer of the first opera in the entire Islamic world. The composer is also known as a teacher and mentor to many well-known composers and musicians in Azerbaijan and abroad. Afrasiyab Badalbeyli, Said Rustamov, Asaf Zeynalli, Shamsi Badalbeyli, Niyazi, Jovdat Hajiyev, Tofig Guliyev, Gara Garayev, Jahangir Jahangirov, Fikrat Amirov and Shafiga Akhundova, among others, were among the maestro's students.
