Today is the birthday of People's Artist Ofeliya Sanani.
Ofeliya Hajagha gizi Sanani was born on May 26, 1941, in Baku. From school years, she showed great interest in art and broadcast media. In 1959, while in the 10th grade, she began working as a trainee announcer at the Republican Radio. Later, she studied philology at Azerbaijan State University (now Baku State University).
From 1959 to 1975, she voiced leading roles in various radio plays, quickly gaining the audience's sympathy. Strong diction, clear speech, and emotional presentation made her one of the standout figures on air. In 1975, she started working as an announcer at Azerbaijan Television, and in 1978 she was awarded the title of top-grade announcer.
Ofeliya Sanani also worked for many years at the dubbing department of Azerbaijanfilm studio. From 1960 to 1990, she voiced main characters in over 100 films. Iconic roles include Humay in 'I Want Seven Sons', Asmar in 'The Day Passed', Ismat in 'The Sound of the Flute', and Sevda in 'Mother-in-law'. These roles are considered among the most successful examples of Azerbaijani film dubbing.
Alongside dubbing, she appeared as an actress in feature and television films like 'Battle in the Mountains', 'Seaside Garden', 'Find That Girl', 'Stars Never Die', 'The Chest', and 'Baku Boulevard'. As a leading representative of the announcer school in Azerbaijan, she played an important role in training a new generation of announcers. Her program 'Morning Meetings' with Davud Ahmadov and various shows for different age groups attracted great interest for many years.
In particular, the character 'Bilayan' created with veteran actor Sadiq Huseynov in the radio program 'Bilayan' for children contributed to their aesthetic development and patriotic upbringing. She was awarded the title of Honored Artist in 1975 and People's Artist in 1991. In 1994, she received a personal pension by the President's decree.
