P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Mahmudov, Homidjon

Tajik producer Homidjon Mahmudov was born in Dushanbe on Feb-

ruary 24, 1900. He was one of the founders of professional theater in

Tajikistan. He joined the CPSU in 1930.

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Iraj Bashiri

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

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Mahmudov studied at the Theater Studio attached to the Bukhara

Culture Center in Moscow in 1927, and worked for a while at the

Hamza Theater in Uzbekistan. In 1928, he was the Leader of the Music

and Drama Group of Bukhara. From 1929 to 1934, he was the founder

and first director of the State Theater for Tajikistan's Cultural People's

Commissariat (now the Lahuti State Theater for Dramatic Arts). From

1934 until he retired, he was the producer and the artistic leader of the

Music Drama Theater of Leninabad. Under his leadership, a number of

well-known performers joined Tajik theater, adding to its growing pres-

tige. He also attracted many musicians and dancers to the Tajik stage.

Mahmudov was the first to introduce classical works to the Tajik

stage. These include Malakai Turandot (The Turandot Queen), by K.

Gotstsi,  Tabibi Zuraki (Forced Doctor), by Zh. Moliere, Isiyon (Insur-

rection), by D. Furmonov and S. Polivanov, and Tifli Bigona (Strange

Child), by V. Shkvarkii. Mahmudov also brought a series of national

pieces to the stage. These works, which were centered on the problems

of the time and their resolution, include Arsalon by Fitrat, Domi Boion

(The Trap by the Rich), Duruya (Two-Faced), and Rafiqon (Friends),

by L. Latifov, as well as Navruz va Gulbahor (Navruz and Gulbahor),

by A. Aminzoda, and others.

Mahmudov died in Bukhara on March 12, 1977.

Majidov, Rahim

Tajik philosopher Rahim Majidovich Majidov was born into a fam-

ily of workers in Samarqand on March 5, 1930. He joined the CPSU in

1964.

Majidov graduated from Samarqand University in 1951. He worked

in the Samarqand schools and as the Director of Marxism-Leninism of

the Samarqand Pedagogical Institute until 1961. From 1961 to 1964, he

was a graduate student at the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of

Sciences of the Soviet Union. In 1964 and 1965, he was a Junior Scien-

tific Worker at the Department of Philosophy of the Academy of

Sciences of Tajikistan. In the following years, he was an Assistant Pro-

fessor from 1966 to 1970, and the Head of the Department of Scientific

Atheism of Tajikistan State University between 1970 and 1973. In

1983, he became the Head of the Religion and Scientific Atheism Divi-

sion of the same institute. He received his doctorate degree in philoso-

phy in 1983, and became a professor in 1987.

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