Aliyeva Mehriban Arif gizi was born in the city of Baku. In 1982 she graduated from the secondary school number 23 in the city of Baku with gold medal and admitted to the preventive-treatment faculty of the Azerbaijan State Medical Institute named after N.Narimanov. Afterwards, she obtained the distinction diploma from the 1st Moscow State Medical Institute named after M.Sechenov. She worked at the Eye Diseases Scientific-Research Institute in Moscow under the leadership of academician Krasnov. “Friends of Azerbaijani Culture” Charitable Foundation was established by the initiative of Mehriban Aliyeva and is being run by her at present time. She also founded “Azerbaijan – Heritage” magazine, which is published in three languages (Azerbaijani, English and Russian) with a view to promote widely the Azerbaijani culture.
In 2002 Mehriban Aliyeva was elected the President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation and demonstrated herself as a skillful organizer in that position. As the recognition of her relentless efforts in protection and development of Azerbaijan’s intangible folk literature and music heritage, Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO on August 13, 2004. Same year, she was elected the member of Executive Committee of NOC during IV General Assembly of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and as member of the New Azerbaijan Party’s Political Board.
Mehriban Aliyeva has been awarded the title of “Woman of Year” according to the sociologic poll held in Azerbaijan in 2005 and elected as the recipient of “the Ruby Cross” order of “Philanthropists of the Century” International Charity Foundation of Russia for her public, philanthropic and charity activity.
In 2005 Mehriban Aliyeva was obtained an academic degree of PhD in philosophy.
The Fund of National Hero Chingiz Mustafayev and ANS Group of Companies have declared Mehriban Aliyeva, the President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and “Friends of Azerbaijani Culture” Charitable Foundation. In 24 November 2006, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador of ISESCO for her wide and brave activities in different fields of life, including the dialog among civilizations, the attention to the children in need, her solid support to the improvement of their living conditions, education, and the projects implemented in Islamic world.
She was awarded the prize of World Health Organization for her great contributions to the protection and strengthening of mother, child and family health upon the unanimous decision of the 120th session of Executive Committee of the Organization held in Geneva, January 29, 2007. She was also presented with Golden Heart International Award and the Heydar Aliyev Prize for fruitful action in public-political and cultural life of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of 5 May 2009 and Grand Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic. The Officer Class of the National Order of Legion of Honor by the order of the President of the Republic of France for outstanding service and loyalty to France was also awarded to her same year.
She was nominated for the elections to the Milli Majlis to be held on November 7, 2010 by the New Azerbaijan Party from Constituency No.14 in the Khazar District, Mehriban Aliyeva was elected a deputy, winning 94.49% (31797 votes) of the votes.
In 2011, Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded the Gold Medal, the “Prix de la Fondation” Prize of the Crans Montana Forum. In January 2013, Pakistan’s influential newspaper “Daily Times” and the Women Volunteers Association declared Mehriban Aliyeva “The Symbol of Humanism – The Person of 2012“. She was elected deputy chairperson of the New Azerbaijan Party and was honored with the award “Martyr Benazir Bhutto Woman Perfection Prize – 2013“. According to the results of the survey conducted by the Arab Cultural Heritage Centre of France and “Nefertiti Media Productions” Company of Egypt from 8 March 2013 to 10 January 2014, Mehriban Aliyeva was honoured with the title of the Most Influential Woman of 2014, “First Lady of the Year” by “The Business Year” Magazine.
On 11 February 2015, Mehriban Aliyeva was conferred on the order “Hilal-e Pakistan” of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Mehriban Aliyeva was conferred on a high state award of the Serbian Republic – the Sreten Order – for her special services before Serbia in public, cultural and humanitarian fields. Nominated for the elections to the National Assembly held on November 1, 2015 by the New Azerbaijan Party from Khazar Constituency No.14, Mehriban Aliyeva was elected MP, gaining 96,7% (38 029 votes) of the votes. The National Hero Chingiz Mustafayev Foundation and ANS Group of Companies have announced Mehriban Aliyeva the “Person of 2015” for her exclusive role in high-level organization and holding of the Baku-2015 first European Games, large-scale activities towards worldwide promotion of Azerbaijan’s positive image, works she has done for mutual integration of Azerbaijani and world cultures, her contribution to the formation of a multicultural environment in the country, and consistent benevolent activity.
On 21 January 2016, Mehriban Aliyeva was conferred on the High Order – the highest award of the European Olympic Committee – by a decision of the European Olympic Committees’ Executive Committee, for her special services to the development of sport in Europe. On 6 March 2016, Mehriban Aliyeva was conferred on Commander’s Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. At the 4th Congress of the World Azerbaijanis held in 2016 in Baku, she was elected a member to the World Azerbaijanis Coordination Board. On September 22, 2016, for the services to preservation of a cultural heritage of the Bulgarian city of Veliko Tyrnovo, Mehriban Aliyeva was presented the diploma of an honorary citizen of the city, and a badge. On September 22, 2016, for the great contribution to preservation and promotion of Bulgaria’s cultural heritage, and active participation in this work, Mehriban Aliyeva was conferred on a diploma of honorary doctor of the Veliko Tyrnovo University named after Saints Cyril and Methodius.
On February 21, 2017, by an order of President Ilham Aliyev, Mehriban Aliyeva was appointed First Vice-president of Azerbaijan.
As a result of this appointment, as of March 6, 2017, the authorities of Mehriban Aliyeva, a deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the 5th convocation, were terminated as a deputy.
Mehriban Aliyeva is married, has two daughters, a son and five grandchildren