Press & broadcasting / Law
Nargiz Birk-Petersen
born 1976 · lawyer, television presenter, model
Azerbaijani-American lawyer who co-hosted the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, after studying in Michigan and earning her law degree at Wayne State.
- Born
Baku, Azerbaijan
age 50- Birth name
- Nargiz Ilgar qizi Abbaszadeh
- Also known as
- Nargiz Abbaszadeh
- Detroit years
- 1990s–2000s
- Field
- Press & broadcasting, Law
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Nargiz Birk-Petersen was born Nargiz Abbaszadeh in Baku, then part of the Soviet Union, on August 7, 1976. In 1994 she left Khazar University and moved to the United States, where her father lived. In Michigan she worked as a model while earning a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Michigan, and she then took her law degree (J.D.) at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, before adding an LL.M. in international and comparative law at Georgetown University. She practiced law in Washington, D.C., and later in Moscow, then moved into the pharmaceutical industry. In May 2012, when Azerbaijan hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, she was chosen to present the three live shows in Baku alongside singer Eldar Gasimov and presenter Leyla Aliyeva, broadcasting to a European audience of well over a hundred million viewers.
Highlights
- Co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku
- J.D. from Wayne State University Law School, Detroit
- Psychology degree from the University of Michigan
- LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center
- Lawyer in Washington and Moscow, later a pharmaceutical executive
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 2000s
Wayne State University Law School
She earned her J.D. here before her LL.M. at Georgetown.