Firoza Begum
ফিরোজা বেগম
Portrait of a woman wearing sari
Begum in 1955
Born(1930-07-28)28 July 1930[1]
Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died9 September 2014(2014-09-09) (aged 84)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
NationalityBangladeshi
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1940–2014
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1955; died 1974)​
Children
Parents
  • Mohammad Ismail (father)
  • Begum Kowkabunnesa (mother)
Relatives
AwardsIndependence Day Award (1979)

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.

Early life and career

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]

Personal life

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]

Death

Firoza Begum died on 9 September 2014 in Apollo Hospital, Dhaka due to heart and kidney problems.[3]

Awards and honours

Awards

Honours

Legacy

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]

References

  1. ↑ "Feroza Begum Archive".
  2. ↑ "Special programme on the legendary Feroza Begum". The Daily Star. 6 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Legendary Nazrul singer Feroza Begum passes away". The Daily Star. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Hossain, Ashik (9 September 2014). "Firoza Begum passes away". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Kamol, Ershad. "Interview". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Daily Prothom Alo. 10 September 2014, Special Feature, pg. 7
  7. ↑ "Runa, Sabina nominated for Sheltech Award". The Financial Express. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  8. ↑ ফিরোজা বেগম: জীবনকথা [Feroza Begum: Life Story]. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "'Feroza Begum Memorial Gold Medal 2018' awarded to Runa Laila". The Daily Star. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Feroza Begum's 88th Birthday". Google. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2020.


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