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Sharof Rashidovich Rashidov (Uzbek Cyrillic: Шароф Рашидович Рашидов; russian: Шараф Рашидович Рашидов, translit=Sharaf Rashidovich Rashidov; – 31 October 1983) was a Communist Party leader in the
After Uzbekistan's independence, Rashidov's image was rehabilitated by Uzbek President
Uzbek SSR
Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...
and a CPSU Central Committee Politburo candidate member between 1961 and 1983.
Biography
Born the day before theRussian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of 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 adopt a socialist form of government ...
to a poor peasant family in Jizzakh
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, image_seal = Jizzax gerb.png
, image_map =
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, pushpin_map = Uzbekistan
, pushpin_label_position = bottom
, pushpin_map_caption = L ...
, 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 co ...
, Sharof Rashidov worked as a teacher, journalist and editor for a Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
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, settlement_type = City
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, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
newspaper. He returned home in 1942 with wounds suffered on the German front in World War II. He became head of the Uzbekistan Writers Union in 1949, and was elected to the post of Chairman of the Praesidium of the Uzbek Supreme Soviet in 1950. In 1959, he became First Secretary of the Uzbek Communist Party, a post he held to his death in 1983.
In the Soviet Union his name became synonymous with corruption, nepotism and the Uzbek cotton scandal of the Era of Stagnation
The "Era of Stagnation" (russian: Пери́од засто́я, Períod zastóya, or ) is a term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev in order to describe the negative way in which he viewed the economic, political, and social policies of the Soviet Uni ...
. With orders from Moscow to grow increasing quantities of cotton, the Uzbek government responded by reporting miraculous growth in land irrigated and harvested, and record improvements in production and efficiency. The Uzbek leadership used these exaggerated figures to transfer substantial amounts of wealth from central Soviet funds into Uzbekistan.
Rashidov died on 31 October 1983 in Ellikqala District, Karakalpak ASSR, Uzbek SSR. Immediately after his death, rumors spread that he had realized he was about to be disgraced and thus committed suicide. However, this has never been confirmed.
Legacy
After Uzbekistan's independence, Rashidov's image was rehabilitated by Uzbek President Islam Karimov
Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov ( uz, Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов, italics=no; russian: link=no, Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was t ...
as a symbol of national strength against detrimental Soviet central planning.
Personal life
His daughter Gulnara married Uzbek statesman and diplomatAbdulaziz Kamilov
Abdulaziz Khafizovich Kamilov ( uz, Abdulaziz Xafizovich Kamilov; russian: Абдулазиз Хафизович Камилов, Abdulaziz Khafizovich Kamilov; born November 16, 1947) is an Uzbek politician who was Uzbekistan's Minister of Forei ...
. His granddaughter Sayyora Rashidova was a chemist who was a member of the Oliy Majlis
The Oliy Majlis (Cyrillic ''Олий Мажлис'', ) is the parliament of Uzbekistan.
It succeeded the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1995, and was unicameral until a reform implemented in January 2005 created a second chamber ...
.
See also
* '' The Pyramid. The Soviet Mafia''References