Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva ( uz, Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva, often anglicized as ''Nurkhon Yuldasheva'') was one of the first Uzbek women to dance onstage without a paranja veil. She was born in 1913 in

Margilan Margilan ( uz, Marg‘ilon/Марғилон, ; russian: Маргилан) is a city (2022 pop. 242,500) in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Administratively, Margilan is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Yangi Marg ...

, a city in Fergana Province and was murdered in an honor killing in 1929.

Honor killing

Nurkhon ran away from home at a young age to join a Russian dance troupe. Her colleagues there included the future People's Artist of the USSR

Tamara Khanum Tamara Khanum (1906–1991) was an Armenian dancer, known for being one of the first women in Uzbekistan to dance on stage without a paranja. She was a colleague of ill-fated Uzbek dancer Nurkhon Yuldasheva, who was murdered in an honor killi ...

and the future People’s Artist of Uzbekistan Gavkhar Rakhimova. Shortly after joining the group, on 8 March 1928 she and another dancer went onstage and publicly removed their face-veils. When the dance troupe was visiting her hometown of Margilan she decided to visit her family. Her aunt brought her into the house, and told her that her brother was looking for her. He then stabbed her to death, and immediately confessed to the crime after police arrived at the scene. He had admitted that the murder was

premeditated Malice aforethought is the "premeditation" or "predetermination" (with malice) required as an element of some crimes in some jurisdictions and a unique element for first-degree or aggravated murder in a few. Insofar as the term is still in use, ...

, at the insistence of their father, the ming-boshi and mullah Kamal G'iasov, who made him swear on the Koran to kill her. The day after her death a massive funeral was held in the public square. Thousands of people attended the memorial, and women threw off their face-veils in front of her coffin. Her father and brother were eventually tried and executed for their role in the murder, and the ming-boshi and mullah were exiled.

Aftermath

After her death she was honored by the authorities of the USSR as a courageous Soviet

role model A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves ...

and martyr, similar to that of

Tursunoy Saidazimova Tursunoy Saidazimova (russian: Турсуной Саидазимова; 1911 – 10 May 1928), occasionally transliterated as Tursunoi Saidazimova, was one of the first Uzbek actresses in the Uzbek SSR and one of the first to sing onstage without ...

. A statue of Nurkhon was built and placed in Margilan in front of the House of Culture. Made by sculptor Valentin Klebansov in 1967, Nurkhon's statue was taken down in 1993 shortly after the disestablishment of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991; A monument to a young woman representing the struggle for feminine emancipation was considered immoral in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. In the city of

Ferghana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

there is a cinema that still bears her name though, the "Nurkhon" cinema. Nurkhon became the heroine of a Soviet musical play by Kamil Yashin popular throughout the mid 20th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuldashkhojayeva, Nurkhon 1913 births 1929 deaths People from Margilan Propaganda in the Soviet Union Honor killing victims Uzbekistani feminists Uzbekistani murder victims People killed in the Hujum Uzbeks 20th-century Uzbekistani artists Honor killing in Asia Deaths by stabbing

Honor killing

Aftermath

See also

References