P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Akobirov, Yusufjon

Tajik author Yusufjon Akobirov was born on January 10, 1937, into

a family of physicians in the village of Saktara, in the Ghizhduvon

province of Bukhara.

Akobirov graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of

Tajikistan State University in 1959 and found temporary employment

with the monthly Sadoi Sharq. From 1960 to 1961, he attended the

Moscow Advanced School for Playwrights and, upon completion of that

course, returned to Dushanbe. He worked with Tojikistoni Shavravi for

a while, and then accepted the directorship of Sadoi Sharq.

Akobirov's first dramatic work was staged in 1958 in Khujand. It

was called Deromi Rudaki (The Rudaki Drama). The themes of

Akobirov's stories, which include Dukhtari ki Justujuash Mikunam (The

Girl I Seek, 1963), Munira (Munira, 1964), Baloghat (Eloquence,

1966), and Osmoni Sof (Clear Sky, 1968) are mainly social, dealing

with the post-war problems of the Republic.

Akobirov's first novel, Zamini Padaron (The Land of Forefathers,

1974) is also socio-politically oriented. Akobirov follows the socialist

realism school in literature. His 1978 novel, Norak (Norak), was

awarded the Rudaki State Prize for Literature in 1980. Akobirov's other

works include Tahavvoli Doston va Munozirah dar borai On (The

Development of the Story Genre and Discussions Related to It, 1969),

Vodii Mahabbat (The Zone of Love, 1980), Qandak Gul Kard (Qandak

Blossomed, 1965), and Shi'r, Ihsos, va Tafakkur (Poetry, Feeling, and

Thought, 1985).

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Iraj Bashiri

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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Akobirov's Baloghat (Eloquence) and Ba'd az on ki Osiyo Boz Mond

(After the Mill Shut Down) have been made into films by TajikFilm and

have been received favorably. His primary novels have been translated

into Russian and have been positively received as well.

Akobirov joined the Union of Writers of the Soviet Union in 1963.