P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Lahuti, Abulqosim

Iranian-born Tajik poet Abulqosim Lahuti was born on December 4,

1887, into a family of shoemakers in Kirmanshah, Iran. Influenced by

the contemporary social consciousness stemming from the demands of

the workers for a better life, he published his first work at the age of 16.

It was entitled "Masnaviye Ranjbar" ("An Ode to the Worker"). Soon

after that, he joined the revolutionary groups.

After the establishment of the constitution, he found employment in

the gendarmerie. In 1914, on charges of the execution of a major local

figure without acquiring permission from higher authorities, he was sen-

tenced to death by hanging. He fled to Turkey. Soon after, he clandes-

tinely returned to Kermanshah and established the worker's party. In

1918, he accompanied the deposed governmental figures to Turkey,

where he established the Pars journal. In 1920, he returned to Iran via

the Azerbaijan border and was pardoned by the governor of Azerbaijan.

After participating in an uprising against the governor who had par-

doned him, he fled Iran for the last time and went to the Soviet Union.

He lived in a number of places in the Soviet Union, including Tajiki-

stan. He joined the CPSU in 1924. In 1925, he came to Dushanbe and

joined the friends of Sadriddin Aini. His poetry, which appeared first in

Baroye Adabiyoti Sotsialisti, was welcomed by audiences and gained

him the position of the founder of Soviet Tajik poetry.

Lahuti's works include on the one hand, a series of love sonnets and

lyrical pieces about love and patriotism and, on the other hand, a num-

ber of ethical and social pieces centered on the theme of revolution.

Their combined impact on Tajik Soviet society of his time elevated him

to the level of the first Persian-speaking Communist poet.

Tajiks, however, know Lahuti mostly for the composition of their

national anthem. Lahuti's other works include "Kovai Ohingar" ("Kaveh

the Blacksmith," 1947), "Qasidai Kremel" ("Ode to the Kremlin,"

1923), and "Toj va Bairaq" ("The Crown and the Banner," 1935). His

collection of poetry, in six volumes, was published between 1960 and

1963.

Lahuti died on March 16, 1957, in Moscow.

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