| Maýa Gulyýewa | |
| Birth Name: | Mamajan Gulyýewa |
| Birth Date: | 1 May 1920 |
| Birth Place: | Büzmeýin, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (present-day Turkmenistan) |
| Death Place: | Ashgabat, Turkmenistan |
| Genre: | Classical |
| Instrument: | Singing |
| Years Active: | 19412018 |
Mamajan Gulyýewa (1 May 192027 April 2018) was a Turkmen and Soviet soprano opera singer and actress.
Mamajan Gulyýewa was born on 1 May 1920 in the city of Buzmeyin (annexed and made part of the city of Ashgabat in 2013). She was orphaned at age 8.
A lyric soprano, she studied at the Turkmenistan branch of the Moscow Conservatory from 1938 until 1941.[1] Beginning in the latter year, she was a member of the company at the ; she was the first to perform roles in Western operas on the Turkmenistan stage.[2] She also created roles in numerous operas by composers from the Turkmen SSR and other Central Asian republics; among these were roles in Shasenem and Gharib, The Rose and the Nightingale, and Zohre and Tahyr by Adrian Shaposhnikov and Abadan by . Other roles in her repertoire included Marfa in The Tsar's Bride by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Marguerite in Faust by Charles Gounod, and the title role in Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini.[1] During her career she appeared in a handful of films as well.[3] For her work, she received multiple awards during her career; she was named an in 1943, and became a in 1952. In 1955, she was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR. In 2008 she was named a Hero of Turkmenistan. During her career she also received the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and the Order of the Badge of Honour.[2] She was a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Turkmen SSR at its second and fourth sessions.[1]
Gulyýewa, who is said to have been a "[Communist] Party organiser" during the Soviet era,[4] continued to receive recognition from the government of Turkmenistan after the break-up of the Soviet Union.[5] In 2010, it was reported that she still had final say over all matters of opera performance in Turkmenistan.[4] Gulyýewa died on 27 April 2018, four days before what would have been her 98th birthday.[6] She had two children.
In March 2019, by decree of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen National Conservatory was named after Maýa Gulyýewa.[7] In October 2019, the Museum of Maýa Gulyýewa was opened on the territory of the Turkmen National Conservatory.[8] On the occasion of the centennial of her birth, a concert of operatic music was held in the Magtymguly Theater in Ashgabat.[9]