Firoza Begum (Bengali: ফিরোজা বেগম; 28 July 1930 – 9 September 2014) was a Bangladeshi Nazrul Geeti singer.[3] She was awarded the Independence Day Award in 1979 by the Government of Bangladesh.
Firoza Begum | |
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ফিরোজা বেগম | |
Born | [1] | 28 July 1930
Died | 9 September 2014 | (aged 84)
Nationality | Bangladeshi |
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Years active | 1940–2014 |
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Awards | Independence Day Award (1979) |
Firoza Begum was born in Gopalganj District on 28 July 1930 to the zamindar family of Ratail Ghonaparha.[4] Her parents were Mohammad Ismail and Begum Kowkabunnesa.[3] She became drawn to music in her childhood.[3] She started her career in 1940s.[5]
Firoza Begum first sang in All India Radio while studying in sixth grade. She met the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at the age of 10. She became a student of him. In 1942, she recorded her first Islamic song by the gramophone record company HMV in 78 rpm disk format. Since then, 12 LP, 4 EP, 6 CD and more than 20 audio cassette records have been released.[6] She lived in Kolkata from 1954 until she moved to Dhaka in 1967.[3]
In 1956, Firoza Begum was married to Kamal Dasgupta (who converted to Islam before the marriage and took the name Kamal Uddin Ahmed), a singer, composer, and lyricist. Kamal died on 20 July 1974. Two of their three sons, Hamin Ahmed and Shafin Ahmed are musicians. They are currently members of the rock band Miles.[3]
Firoza Begum died on 9 September 2014 in Apollo Hospital, Dhaka due to heart and kidney problems.[3]
The 'Feroza Begum Memorial Gold Medal' was introduced from 2016 by Dhaka University. The recipient is selected by a jury board each year from nationally recognised music artists.[9]
On 28 July 2018, Google celebrated Firoza Begum's 88th Birthday with a Google Doodle.[10]