P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Bobokalonova, Jonon

Tajik literary critic Jonon Bobokalonova was born into a worker's

family in the village of Pulodon in Konibodom on September 13, 1929.

She joined the CPSU in 1958.

Bobokalonova graduated from the Dushanbe Pedagogical Institute in

1949. In 1954, she joined the Department of Tajik Literature of the

same institute, teaching the history of Tajik literature, with emphasis on

children's literature. Her contributions, which began in 1950, include

Ba'zi Mulohizaho dar Borai Adabiyoti Bachagonai Tojik (Some Consid-

erations Regarding Literature for Tajik Children, 1954), Asarhoi

Bachagonai M. Mirshakar dar Solhoi Pas az Jang (M. Mirshakar's

Post-War Stories for Children, 1956), and others. She received her doc-

torate degree in philology in 1983 and became a professor in 1985.

Bobokalonova's research deals with the history of the development

of children's literature in Tajikistan. She is also interested in a compara-

tive study of this literature with similar literatures produced in the other

republics of the Soviet Union. Her other contributions include Materi-

alho Oid ba Adabiyoti Bachagonai Tojik (Materials Pertaining to Lit-

erature for Tajik Children, Dushanbe, 1975); Vassofi Buzurgi Zindagi

(The Great Life Expositionist, Dushanbe, 1985); and Tadzhiskaya

Detskaya Literatura (Tajik Children's Literature, Dushanbe, 1982).