P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Mirshakar, Mirsa'id
Tajik poet and playwright Mirsa'id Mirshakar was born on May 5,
1912, into a family of herders in Badakhshan. He received his early
education in Dushanbe, and worked for the Kommsomol-Tajikistan
Daily. He joined the CPSU in 1942.
From 1940 to 1960, he was the secretary and associate director of
the Union of Writers of Tajikistan. Between 1966 and 1975, he was the
Associate Director for the Committee that awards the Rudaki State
Prize. And in 1978, he became the head of that committee.
Mirshakar published his first long poem, entitled "Lavoi Zafar"
("The Banner of Victory") in 1934. He also was active in the production
of materials for children. As a result of his untiring efforts, the works of
Muhammad Iqbal and Khalil Somoni were published in Tajikistan for
the first time in 1958.
Mirshakar's major contributions include "Rubo'iyyot dar borai
Lenin" ("Quatrains About Lenin," 1938), "Bahori Jovid" ("Eternal
Spring," 1940), "Dostoni Qishloqi Tilloi" ("The Story of the Golden

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Prominent Tajik Figures of the Twentieth Century

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Winter Quarter," 1942), "Qasami Tisha Boi" ("Tisha Boi's Oath,"

1942), "Dostoni Odamoni az Bomi Jahon" ("The Story of the People of
the Top of the World," 1943), "Kalidi Bakht" ("The Key to Prosperity,"
1947), "Lenin Zinda Ast" ("Lenin Lives," 1947), "Panji Noorom" ("The
Uneasy Panj," 1947-1949), "Tu Zindai" ("You Are Alive," 1948),
"Namoyeshnomai Shahri Man" ("A Play About My Town," 1951), "Mo
az Pomir Omadim" ("We Came from the Pamirs," 1954), "Da'vati
Vatan" ("The Invitation of the Motherland," 1954), "Farzandi Vatan"
("The Child of the Motherland," 1955), "Onhoro Dust Midoram" ("I
Love Them," 1957), "Bahori Tojikiston" ("Tajikistan Spring," 1958),
"Bachchagoni Hinduston" ("Children of India," 1961), "'Ishqi Dukhtari
Kuhsor" ("The Love of the Mountain Girl," 1966), "Bairaqi Maktab"
("The Banner of the School," 1969), "Bo Rohi Pidaron" ("On the Path
of the Forefathers," 1971), "Korvoni Bakht" ("The Caravan of Luck,"
1978), "Gulhoi Kuhi" ("Mountain Flowers," 1979)
.
Between 1970 and
1974, Mirshakar's collected works were published in three volumes.
Mirshakar joined the Union of the Writers of the Soviet Union in
1934. He won the Soviet State Prize in 1950, the Rudaki State Prize in
1964, and the Komsomol Prize in 1972. In 1962, he was recognized as a
People's Poet of Tajikistan. He has also received two Orders of Lenin,
the Order of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner of
Labor, two Orders of the Badge of Honor, and the Honorary Order of
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Tajikistan. Mirshakar died in
Dushanbe in 1993.