P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Prominent Tajik Figures of the Twentieth Century

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Baqozoda, Homid

Tajik scholar and journalist Homid Baqozoda was born in the village
of Rusina of the Orlov province of Russia in 1910.
Baqozoda graduated from the Orlov school system and went into
teaching. In the late 1920s, he entered journalism and worked for Ovozi
Tojik, Bidorii Tojik, and Rahbari Donish. He was deeply concerned
with issues affecting education and tried to safeguard the linguistic, cul-
tural, and historical integrity of the Tajiks. His contributions include
Dar Oqozi Khudmukhtorii Tojikon (At the Beginning of the Independ-
ence of the Tajiks, 1924), Dar Shinokhti Tojikon (On Knowing the
Tajiks, 1924), Matbu'oti Tojikro Boyad Gustarish Dod (Tajik Press
Must Be Expanded, 1925), Tarbiyati Tojikon dar Uzbekiston (The Edu-
cation of the Tajiks in Uzbekistan, 1926), and Tojikon Khohoni Khon-
dani Zaboni Khish Hastand (The Tajiks Want to Read Their Own Lan-
guage, 1926).
Baqozoda died in 1943.
Baqozoda, Jura
Tajik literary critic Jura Baqozoda was born into a scholarly family
in Samarqand on September 22, 1937.
Baqozoda graduated from Samarqand State Institute in 1962. From
1962 to 1978, he worked for the Rudaki Language and Literature Insti-
tute of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. From 1978 to 1985, he
was the Head of the Literary Criticism Division of Sadoi Sharq. In
1985, he became the Chief Literary Editor of the Soviet Tajik Encyclo-
pedia.
Baqozoda's literary career dates to 1963. His contributions include
Khususiyathoi Novpardozi: Masalai Kharakter (The Particularities of
the New: the Question of Character, 1974), Justujuhoi Badii dar Nasri
Mu'osiri Tojik (Artistic Forays into Contemporary Tajik Prose, 1982),
and Navisanda va Ideoli Zamon (The Writer and the Ideal of the Time,
1987).
Baqozoda wrote a number of essays on the relationship of Tajik lit-
erature with the literatures of the other republics of the former Soviet
Union. He also wrote pieces on realism, especially social realism, and
its impact on the lives of the peoples of Central Asia.

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Iraj Bashiri

48
Baqozoda was a Distinguished Contributor to Tajik Literature in

1998. He received the Honorary Order of the Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet of Tajikistan in 1987.