Zulfiya Isroilova, known by her pen name Zulfiya (in Cyrillic '; 14 March 1915, in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– 23 August 1996, in Tashkent,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

) was a

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, ...

and Uzbek writer. She repeatedly was a leader or chief editor for various media, participating in Soviet delegations to various conferences. The Uzbek National Award for Women was created and named after her.

Early life

Her name Zulfiya originates from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word ''zulf'' meaning 'a curl of hair' and '(in a mystic sense) the divine mysteries forming the delight of the devotee'. Zulfiya was born in

Mahallah is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social ins ...

Dergez, near Tashkent to a family of craftsmen. Her parents were very interested in culture and literature. Her mother used to sing her popular songs and tales.

Career

Her first poem was published 17 July 1931 in the Uzbek newspaper ''Ishchi'' (The Worker). Her first collection of poetry (''Hayot varaqlari'', "Pages of Life") was published in 1932. In the following decades she wrote patriotic works as well as propaganda, pacifist works, and works on nature and women's topics. From 1938 on, Zulfiya worked for various publishers and was a member of several national and interrepublican organizations. She repeatedly was a leader or chief editor for various media. After the death of her husband

Hamid Olimjon Hamid Olimjon (sometimes spelled Hamid Alimjan in English; uz, Ҳамид Олимжон; Hamid Olimjon; russian: Хамид Алимджан; Khamid Alimdzhan; 12 December 1909 – 3 July 1944) was an Uzbek poet, playwright, scholar, and liter ...

in an accident in 1944, she dedicated to him several works. In 1953, she joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and also became the editor of '' Saodat'' magazine. In 1956, she was part of a delegation of Soviet writers led by

Konstantin Simonov Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, born Kirill Mikhailovich Simonov (russian: link= no, Константин Михайлович Симонов, – 28 August 1979), was a Soviet author, war poet, playwright and wartime correspondent, arguabl ...

to the Asian Writers' Conference in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. In 1957, she participated in the Asian-African Solidarity Conference in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Personal life

Zulfiya was married to the renowned Uzbek poet

. He died in a car accident on 3 July 1944, in Tashkent. He was 34 years old at the time of his death.

Death

Zulfiya died at 81 years, on 23 August 1996 in

Legacy

In 1999, the Uzbek National Award for Women was created and named after her. On 1 March 2008, a statue in her memory was unveiled in

. In 2014, the monument was replaced with a bronze one. In December 2017, the monument was moved to the Alley of Writers.

Awards

* People's Poet of the Uzbek SSR (1965) *

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

(1984) * Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(1959, 1984) * Three Orders of the Red Banner of Labour (1957, 1965, 1971) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

(1975) *

Order of the Badge of Honour The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

(1951) * Two Medals "For Distinguished Labour" (1944, 1950) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(1976)

References

External links

Biography
(Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zulfiya 1915 births 1996 deaths 20th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century Uzbekistani poets 20th-century Uzbekistani writers 20th-century women writers People from Syr-Darya Oblast Writers from Tashkent Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Pseudonymous women writers Socialist realism writers Soviet women poets Soviet women writers Uzbekistani women poets Uzbekistani women writers