P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Iraj Bashiri

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on the one hand, and the place of philosophy in society, on the other

hand.
Tursunov's other contributions include Inson, Atum va Kaihon (Man,
Atom, and the Universe, 1967), Mardi Nik Farjom (A Man with a
Blessed End, 1967), Az Astura to Donish (From Myth to Gnosis, 1973),
Andishai Ruzgor (Temporal Ruminations, 1975), Kaihon Shinosi va
I'tiqodoti Dini (Space Discovery and Religious Beliefs, 1975), and
Bandi Falak (The Cord of the Universe, 1976).
Tursunov was awarded the Order of the Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet of Tajikistan.
He left Tajikistan in 1994, and since 1996, has been a Visiting
Curator for Central Asian Ethnology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tursunov, Nazirjon
Tajik ethnographer and historian Nazirjon Ochilovich Tursunov was
born into a family of workers in Leninabad on August 12, 1942. He
joined the CPSU in 1981.
Tursunov graduated from the Department of History and Philology
of the Leninabad State Institute in 1964. Between 1964 and 1980, he
became an Assistant Professor, and later Professor of History of the
Soviet Union at the Leninabad State Pedagogical Institute. He received
his doctorate degree in history in 1980, and became a professor in 1981.
Tursunov's research deals with the problems of historical topogra-
phy, the structure of cities and villages, and demography, as well as the
professions, artistry, trade, farming, and herding among the people. His
period of investigation is from the end of the 19
th
to the beginning of the
20
th
centuries. His contributions include Iz istorii gorodskogo remesla
Severnogo Tadzhikistana (From the History of Art in Northern Tajiki-
stan, Dushanbe, 1974).
Tursunov, Sattor
Tajik author Sattor Tursunov, also referred to as Sattor Tursun, was
born into a family of farmers in the village of Posurkhi of Baisun dis-
trict, Surkhon Dariya, Uzbekistan, on February 15, 1946. He joined the
CPSU in 1975.
Tursunov graduated from Tajikistan State University with a degree
in Arabic in 1970. In the same year, he worked as the Director of fea-
ture stories and propaganda at Sadoi Sharq. The themes of Tursunov's

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