P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Dodkhudoeva, Lola

Tajik scholar Lola Dodkhudoeva was born in Dushanbe in 1951.

Dodkhudoeva graduated from the Leningrad State University in

1973 with a degree in Arabic studies. She started her career as a re-

search fellow in the Department of Medieval History of the Institute of

History, Archeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of

Tajikistan in 1977. Thereafter she became the Head of the same insti-

tute. In 1993 and 1994, Dodkhudoeva was employed by the Ministry of

Education of Tajikistan, and from 1996 to 1997, she served as the Dep-

uty Director of the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute in Tajiki-

---

Iraj Bashiri

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

70

stan. Dodkhudoeva became the Secretary-General of the UNESCO

National Commission for Tajikistan in March 2000.

Dodkhudoeva's research is focused on Islam and its role in the me-

dieval cultures of Central Asia. At the present, she is continuing her

education as a doctoral candidate in history.