Muza Alekseevna Niyazova (, ; née Melnikova; born 10 June 1938) is a Turkmen public figure who held the role of

First Lady of Turkmenistan The First Lady of Turkmenistan () is the title attributed to the wife of the President of Turkmenistan. First ladies of Turkmenistan Muza Niyazova Muza Alekseýewna Niýazowa is the widow of the first president, Saparmyrat Nyýazow,

from 1991 until the death of her husband in 2006. She is the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can ...

of former President of Turkmenistan

Saparmurat Niyazov Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; tk, Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, in Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Turkmenbashi, was a Turkmen politician who ruled ...

,Муза Ниязова: “Не получилась у нас совместная жизнь” - - МК
//

Moskovskij Komsomolets ''Moskovskij Komsomolets'' (russian: Московский комсомолец, lit=Moscow Komsomolets) is a Moscow-based daily newspaper with a circulation approaching one million, covering general news. Founded in 1919, it is famed for its to ...

with whom she had two children.

Biography

Muza Melnikova was born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

into a family of Russian and Jewish origin. Her father fought in the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a Theater (warfare), theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Polish Armed Forces in the East, Poland and other Allies of World War II, Allies, which encom ...

and was a senior officer in

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. She graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. In the mid-1960s, she met

, who at that time worked at the Kirov plant as a molder and was studying at the institute at the same time, and soon she married him. On April 18, 1967, Niyazova gave birth to son Murat, and two years later to their daughter Irina.

Wife to Niyazov

It was understood that when Niyazov was appointed in 1985 as

First Secretary First Secretary may refer to: * First minister, a leader of a government * Secretary (title), a leader of a political party (especially Communist parties), trade union, or other organization * First Secretary (diplomatic rank), a role within an emba ...

of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Turkmenistan The Communist Party of Turkmenistan (russian: Коммунистическая партия Туркменистана; tk, Türkmenistanyň Kommunistik Partiýasy) was the ruling communist party of the Turkmen SSR, and a part of the Communis ...

, Niyazova's nationality wife played a decisive role, as members of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contractio ...

considered that it would force a cap on Turkmen nationalism. Following the

collapse of the Soviet government The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the

1990 Turkmenistan presidential election Presidential elections were held for the first time in the Turkmen SSR on 27 October 1990. The only candidate was Saparmurat Niyazov, who won 98% of the vote. Voter turnout was 97%.Nohlen''et al''., p479 Results References {{Turkmenistani e ...

, Niyazov alienated Muza from himself as he did not care to become an example of interethnic marriages in a position of power. In Niyazov's latter years, she spent most of her time between

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

(where she has an apartment on Prospekt Vernadskogo) and London.

References

1938 births Living people People from Saint Petersburg First Ladies of Turkmenistan Soviet Jews Russian Jews Saparmurat Niyazov {{Turkmenistan-bio-stub