Aitova was born in Troitsk in 1866, the daughter of a wealthy merchant called Abdulvali Yaushev.

Aitova turned to the deputy of the Kazan City Duma, Ivan Godnev, for assistance, and through Godnev she was able to meet with the minister of public education and head of the department of public education to make her appeals and receive advice.

[2] She and her husband also spent three years travelling around Europe and familiarising themselves with how gymnasiums were run in Prague, Vienna and Berlin.

Alongside the Tatar and Russian languages, the gymnasium also taught Arabic, German, English, French and Persian.

[5] After the October Revolution, the gymnasium and the rest of Aitova's property was nationalised by the Soviet government, leaving her penniless.

Iskhak Rakhmatullin, the chairman of the Council of Ministers at the time, appealed to the government to provide a pension for Aitova, but the request was rejected.