Baku, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire [now Azerbaijan] | 1918-02-05 | 1982-05-13

Gara Abulfaz oghlu Garayev (Azerbaijani: Qara Əbülfəz oğlu Qarayev, Russian: Кара́ Абульфа́зович Кара́ев (Kara Abulfazovich Karayev), February 5, 1918 – May 13, 1982), also spelled as Qara Qarayev or Kara Karayev, was a prominent Soviet Azerbaijani composer. Garayev wrote nearly 110 musical pieces, including ballets, operas, symphonic and chamber pieces, solos for piano, cantatas, songs, and marches, and rose to prominence not only in the Azerbaijan SSR, but also in the rest of the Soviet Union and worldwide.