Askad Mukhtar

Askad Mukhtar (born Mukhtarov) was born in Fergana on 23 December 1920, the son of a railway worker. He lost his parents at the age of eleven and grew up in a children’s home. After leaving school in 1938 he entered the Faculty of Philology of the Central Asian State University in Tashkent and graduated in 1942. His poems appeared in print from 1938; his first narrative poem, “Our Generations” (1939), tells of the past life of the working people of Bukhara.

In 1942–1945 he headed the Department of Uzbek Literature at the Andijan Pedagogical Institute. He then returned to Tashkent and in 1945–1948 worked as executive secretary and department head at the newspapers “Yosh leninchi” and “Qizil O'zbekiston”. His narrative poem “The Steelmaker” (1947) brought the life of industrial workers into Uzbek literature, a theme he continued in the poetry collection “My Fellow Townsmen” (1949), the book of sketches and stories “City of Steel” (1950) and the novella “Where the Rivers Meet” (1950). In the same years he wrote the children’s plays “The Peak of Courage” (1948) and “Kindness for Kindness” (1949).

His first major prose work, the novel “Sisters” (1954), deals with the rise of an industrial working class in the republic and the spiritual awakening of Uzbek women. “Birth” (1961) follows young people working on a great construction site, and “Time in My Destiny” (1964) is a confessional novel about a man of his time. “A Karakalpak Tale” (1958) and the narrative poem “Touching Immortality” (1969) turn to the years of the revolution.

The novel “Chinor” (1969) traces the path of the Uzbek people through the twentieth century in the fate of one family; it came out in Russian in 1970 and in 1973 won its author the Hamza State Prize of the Uzbek SSR. Later came the novellas “Bo'ronlarda bordek halovat” (1976), “The Back Streets of Bukhara” (1980) and “The Silver Thread”, and the novel “Amu” about events in Afghanistan. As a poet he published the collections “99 Miniatures” (1962), “The Caravan Bell” (1964), “Poems” (1966) and “A Mysterious Call” (1984), much of them reflections on human life and nature.

He was also active in literary organisations: in 1957–1969 and 1985–1988 he was secretary of the board of the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan, and in 1965 deputy chairman of the board. He was editor-in-chief of the magazines “Sharq yulduzi” (1960–1965) and “Guliston” (1969–1980) and of the weekly “O'zbekiston adabiyoti va san'ati” (1981–1982).

He translated Sophocles, Shakespeare, Tagore, Pushkin, Lermontov, Shevchenko, Blok, Gorky and Mayakovsky into Uzbek and wrote literary criticism. His own books have been translated into Russian and a number of other languages.

In 1980 he was named a People’s Writer of the Uzbek SSR and awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples; earlier he had twice received the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and in 1995 he was awarded the Order of Friendship (Do'stlik). His last book, “When Sleep Won’t Come” (1997), gathers his reflections on life, spirituality and creative work. Askad Mukhtar died in Tashkent on 17 April 1997. In 2003 he was posthumously awarded the Order “For Outstanding Services” (Buyuk xizmatlari uchun).