The revolutionary and artist Merziye Resazi was born on May 18, 1958 in the eastern Kurdish city of Marivan. Her family originally came from the city of Sine. As a young woman, she influenced the people around her with her beautiful voice. Merziye Resazi often faced difficulties in her life because of her identity as a woman and a Kurd. When she was growing up and her voice was mature, no one in her family wanted her to sing, because society had a negative attitude towards women singing. In 1978 she married the artist and writer Nasir Resazi. In the same year, she took part in activities against the Shah’s regime and was arrested by the police. The associated activities were used as a pretext to throw her out of her teaching job. Merziye Resazi and her husband joined the Peshmerga against these attacks and moved to the mountains of Kurdistan. With her songs, she tried to awaken the feelings of revolution in the people. During those years in the mountains, they founded a choir called the “Bangavaz Choir” with their Peshmerga friends. In 1985, she went to Sweden as a refugee. After the first Kurdish TV studio MED TV started broadcasting, she extended her art to the Kurdish people and became very popular with them. She died in Sweden on September 18, 2005.
