P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Iraj Bashiri

276
Raufova, Nigina

Tajik singer-composer Nigina Raufova was born on May 21, 1945 in
the village of Shirmon in Faizabad.
Raufova began her career in the 1960s among the amateur artist
groups of the Kombinat of Weavers of Dushanbe. In 1971, she began
her career as a singer as part of the Ensemble of Rubob (lute) players. In
1975, she began singing for Radio and Television of Tajikistan.
Raufova's repertoire includes many of the popular songs of the peo-
ples of the Soviet Union (especially the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Azeris, Turk-
mens, and Russians) and abroad (Afghanistan, Iran, and the Arabian
lands). As part of the Ensemble of Rubob players, she traveled to Bela-
rus and Maldova. In 1978, as a member of the Lola Dance Ensemble,
she traveled to France where the group gave a concert. Her skill is par-
ticularly apparent when she works with the creations of traditional
Tajiki lyrics like "Askarbacha" ("Boy Soldier"), by Kh. Abdulloev;
"Bui Gul" ("The Fragrance of Flower"), by Z. Shahidi; "'Ishqi Khubon"
("The Love of the Beloved"), by Safarmamadov; "Sarzamini Mo" ("Our
Land"), by M. Jum'aev; "Kosh Mididam Turo" ("I Wish I Could See
You"), by J. Obidov; and others.
Raufova became Tajikistan's Popular Singer-Composer in 1977. She
is a recipient of the 100
th
Anniversary of the Birth of Lenin Prize, and
the Honorary Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Tajiki-
stan, as well as the Red Banner of Courage.
Ravshan Rahmoni
See Rahmonov, Ravshan.
Rustamov, Sharofuddin
Tajik scholar and linguist Sharofuddin Rustamov was born in the
village of Nikanot in the Panjakent district of the Zarafshan province
May 1, 1931. He joined the CPSU in 1955.
Rustamov graduated from the Dushanbe Pedagogical Institute in
1954. In 1964, he was appointed the Director of the Contemporary Lan-
guage Department of the Rudaki Institute of Languages and Literatures.
Rustamov's research deals with various aspects of Persian and Tajiki
languages including the reasons for the deterioration of the status of the
languages and various ways of preventing foreign vocabulary from en-
tering the languages.

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