P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Rahimzoda, Boqi

Tajik poet Boqi Rahimzoda was born on May 15, 1910, into a relig-

ious family in Gharm in southern Tajikistan. Rahimzoda went to

Dushanbe in 1928. After working in a cotton factory for a while, he

moved on to Samarqand.

Rahimzoda graduated from the Samarqand Pedagogical Institute in

1931, then returned to Gharm as a teacher. In 1938, he graduated from

the Tashkent Pedagogical Institute, and in 1941, from the Dushanbe

Pedagogical Institute. In 1948, he became the director of the poetry di-

vision of the Union of Writers of Tajikistan. A friend of Sadriddin Aini,

Abulqosim Lahuti, Bobojon Ghafurov, and Mirzo Tursunzoda,

Rahimzoda excelled in quatrains. Some Tajik song writers have drawn

on his verses for their compositions.

Rahimzoda's major works include the collections Ilhom (Inspira-

tion,1973); Ba Jibha (To the Front, 1945); Kuhistoni Durakhshon

(Shining Highland, 1948); as well as several plays including Rohi Tai

Shuda (The Road Traversed, 1966) and Qissai Kuhsor (The Story of the

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Iraj Bashiri

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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Highlands, 1970). Rahimzoda's collected works were published in two

volumes in Dushanbe in 1981.

Rahimzoda joined the Union of Writers of the Soviet Union in 1940.

He was the winner of the Rudaki State Prize in 1974. He was decorated

with two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, two Badges of Honor, and

four other medals.

Rahimzoda died in Dushanbe in 1982.