Roziya Boimatovna Ghafurova, better known as Roziya Ozod (January 18, 1893 – 1957), was a

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

i poet of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

era. Ozod was born in

Khujand Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند‌, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لن� ...

into the family of a merchant, and received her early education in the traditional schools before embarking on a career as a teacher. According to her own account of her biography as told through her poetry, she spent the entirety of her early life within the confines of Khujand, first in her family home and later in the house of her husband; she never even saw the outskirts of the city. It was only with the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

that she first felt truly free, which was the reason she chose "Ozod" as her ''takhallus''. She began writing poetry during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, composing patriotic works in which she urged warriors to fight on for the motherland. She continued writing after the war; notable works include ''Qahramoni Odil'' (''Just Champion,'' 1943), ''Mahabbat ba Vatan'' (''Love for the Country,'' 1944), ''Gulistoni 'Ishq'' (''The Rose Garden of Love,'' 1946), ''Az Vodihoi Taloi'' (''From the Golden Valleys,'' 1948), ''Iqbol'' (''Fortune,'' 1951), and ''Zindabod Sulh'' (''Long Live Peace,'' 1954). The theme of many of these later poems is the lot of women, especially in the time before the Revolution. Other work is dedicated to children. In 1944 Ozod joined the Union of Writers of Tajikistan; she died in Khujand. She was the mother of scholar

Bobojon Ghafurov Bobojon Ghafurov (18 December 1908 – 12 July 1977) (Tajiki: Бобоҷон Ғафуров) or Babadzan Gafurovich Gafurov (russian: Бободжан Гафурович Гафуров) was a Tajik historian, academician, and the author of several ...

. Stylistically her verse has a simplicity reminiscent of folk poetry, although it reflects classical models as well. A collected volume of poetry, ''Ash'ori muntakhab'' (''Selected Poems''), appeared posthumously in 1959.

References

{{authority control 1893 births 1957 deaths Tajikistani women poets 20th-century Tajikistani poets Soviet women poets People from Khujand 20th-century Tajikistani writers 20th-century Tajikistani women writers