Abbas Bakirov

Abbas Bakirov was born on 16 May 1910 in Andijan. In 1931 he joined the Andijan regional theatre of musical drama and comedy (now the Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur theatre) and stayed on its stage until 1972. He rose in the company from a stagehand to chief director and artistic director; his teacher in directing was Ishoqkhan qori Karimov.

He began as an actor in roles such as Mahkam palvon in «The Gardener’s Daughter». Later he played Rustam in U. Ismailov’s play of that name, Ferdinand in Schiller’s «Intrigue and Love», Gafur in Hamza’s «The Rich Man and the Servant», Romeo, and in Gogol’s «The Government Inspector» both Khlestakov and the Governor.

From 1940 he also directed and staged more than forty productions, among them «Alisher Navoi», «Muqimi», «Aching Teeth», «Kholiskhan», «Nurkhan», «Nodira» and «Layla and Majnun».

He came to film in 1939 with the title role in «Azamat». His best-known screen parts are the Emir of Bukhara in «The Fall of the Emirate» (1955), Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in «Avicenna» (1956) and Yusufbek Haji in «Bygone Days» (1969).

Bakirov was People’s Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1939), received the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1959), became People’s Artist of the USSR (1970) and won the Hamza State Prize of the Uzbek SSR (1970). In 2001 he was posthumously given the Order «For Outstanding Merit» of Uzbekistan.

Abbas Bakirov died on 29 January 1974 in Andijan and was buried in the city. His daughter Oybarchin Bakirova also became an actress and was named People’s Artist of Uzbekistan in 2000. The Andijan city youth theatre and one of the city’s cinemas bear his name.