P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Dehoti, Abdusalom

Tajik author and poet Abdusalom Pirmuhammadzoda Dehoti was

born into a merchant family in Samarqand on March, 14, 1911. His

early education was in old-method schools followed by middle school

in Samarqand in 1930 and higher education in 1931. He joined the

CPSU in 1941.

From 1931 to 1934, he worked at Haqiqati Uzbekistan. In 1935, he

moved to Dushanbe and worked for the State Publications of Tajikistan.

After a stint (1935-38) at Baroi Adabiyoti Sotsiolisti, he became the

President of the Union of Writers of Tajikistan (1938-40). Between

1940 and 1951, he was the Assistant Editor of Sharqi Surkh (later Sadoi

Sharq). These early activities were followed by a position as Advisor to

the Institute of Communist History (1953-58), and as the Chief Editor

of Tojikiston (1953-1961).

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Iraj Bashiri

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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Dehoti's early works, influenced by the works of Sadriddin Aini (es-

pecially Odina), were published in Ovozi Tojik and Rahbari Donish as

early as 1929. "Hamidai Siyohbakht" ("Unlucky Hamida") and

"Ajinaho" ("The Fairies") are cases in point. Dehoti's first collection of

poetry, entitled Manzarahoi Sigona (The Three Views, 1932), was fol-

lowed by Taronahoi Mihnat (Songs of Labor) in 1934.

Dehoti's works as a playwright began with Khisrav va Shirin

(Khosrow  and Shirin, 1936) for which he cooperated with Mirzo

Tursunzoda. From there the two went on to write Shurishi Vose' (The

Vose' Uprising, 1940), the play that formed the basis for the Tajik opera

of the same name. Their use of local color, especially using the folklore

of the people of the region, helped build a more authentic character for

Vose' than otherwise would have been possible. Dehoti's Nur dar

Kuhiston (Light in the Highlands, 1947) depicts the lives of teachers in

the Gharm region carrying out their duties in spite of Basmachi threats.

Although his quatrains gained Dehoti a great deal of fame, his son-

nets and mathnavis (odes) on social issues were of no less importance.

In general, he projected a balanced view of the social issues of Soviet

culture in Tajikistan.

Dehoti joined the Union of Writers of Tajikistan in 1934. He re-

ceived two Orders of Red Banner of Labor, 2 Badge of Honor, and sev-

eral Orders of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Tajikistan.

Dehoti died on 31 January 1962 in Dushanbe. His collected works,

in five volumes, appeared in 1965/66.