Rafig Aliyev (Rafig Merdinli) was born in the village of Merdinli, Fuzuli.

He studied at the Directing Department of the Cultural and Educational Faculty of the Leningrad Institute of Culture (1968), and at the Musical Comedy Acting Faculty of the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts (1974-1979).

In 1976, he was invited to work at the Azerbaijan State Theater of Young Spectators. He also worked as a director at the Theater of Young Spectators for a long time (1994-2000). He directed performances at the Ibrus Theater, the Academic National Drama Theater, the Istanbul Municipal Theater, the Kazakh State Drama Theater, and the Zafar Theater of the Union of Theater Workers.

He is also one of the founders of the Ibrus and Zafar Theaters.

He was the producer of the ritual tragedy “Ali and Nino” of the Creative Youth Center-Laboratory of the Union of Theater Workers of Azerbaijan (2007).

He worked as a teacher at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts.

He was the deputy chairman of the Union of Theater Workers of Azerbaijan for creative issues (2004-2020).

He starred in the films “The Success of a Lone Merchant” (1984, directed by Sebastian Alarcon / Russia), “The Eve of Spring” (2001, directed by Philip Bayon / Poland, France), “Count Krestofsky” (2004, directed by Ramiz Fataliyev / Russia) as the prison warden, and “Students International” (2006, directed by Olga Perunovskaya / Russia) as Diana’s father.

Rafig Aliyev, Honored Artist (1990), People's Artist (2007), laureate of the "Golden Dervish" and "Humay" (2005) awards, passed away in 2020.

Actor, director Rafig Aliyev is the husband of actress Shafag Aliyeva.