Firoza Begum (singer)

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This article is about the singer. For the actress, see Firoza Begum (actress).
Firoza Begum
ফিরোজা বেগম
Portrait of a woman wearing sari
Begum in 1955
Born(1930-07-28)28 July 1930
Faridpur, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died9 September 2014(2014-09-09) (aged 84)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
NationalityBangladeshi
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1940–2014
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1955; died 1974)​
Children
Parents
  • Mohammad Ismail (father)
  • Begum Kowkabunnesa (mother)
RelativesMohammad Asafuddowla (brother)[1]
AwardsIndependence Day Award (1979)

Firoza Begum (Bengali: ফিরোজা বেগম; 28 July 1930 – 9 September 2014) was a Bangladeshi Nazrul Geeti singer.[2] 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.[3] Her parents were Mohammad Ismail and Begum Kowkabunnesa.[2] She became drawn to music in her childhood.[2] She started her career in 1940s.[4]

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.[5] She lived in Kolkata from 1954 until she moved to Dhaka in 1967.[2]

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.[2]

Death[]

Firoza Begum died on 9 September 2014 in Apollo Hospital, Dhaka due to heart and kidney problems.[2]

Awards and honours[]

Awards[]

  • Independence Day Award (1979)
  • Netaji Subhash Chandra Award
  • Satyajit Ray Award
  • Nasiruddin Gold Medal
  • Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Gold Medal
  • Best Nazrul Sangeet Singer Award
  • Nazrul Academy Award
  • Churulia Gold Medal
  • Gold Disk from CBS, Japan
  • Meril-Prothom Alo Lifetime honorary award (2011)
  • Sheltech Award (2000)[6][7]

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.[8]

On 28 July 2018, Google celebrated Firoza Begum's 88th Birthday with a Google Doodle.[9]

References[]

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


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