Hakim Zaripov

Hakim Zaripov was born on 17 September 1924 in Tashkent into the family of Karim Zaripov, founder of a dynasty of circus performers. He studied at the Gliere Music School in Tashkent and then in the conducting faculty (symphonic department) of the Tashkent Conservatory.

He began his circus career in 1938 as a jigit rider in the ensemble “Jigits of Uzbekistan”, led by his father Karim Zaripov, and headed that ensemble himself from 1952 to 2006. With it he toured many Soviet cities and went abroad to Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania, Mongolia, Hungary and Finland.

He worked as artistic director of circus troupes and programmes and as director of several circuses, and is credited as a co-author of designs for new circus buildings. He trained many performers and later re-formed the “Jigits of Uzbekistan” group and trained horses.

In the 1950s–1970s he appeared in small roles in several feature films, among them “Nesterka”, “Dohunda”, “A Tale of Love” and “Aerial Walkers”. The dynasty was carried on by his wife Nina Dmitriyevna, his daughter Govhar and his son Anvar; Anvar Zaripov has led the ensemble since 2006.

He was Honoured Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1954), People’s Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1964) and People’s Artist of the USSR (1980), and received the Certificate of Honour of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1994. He died in Tashkent on 18 January 2023, in his 99th year; at the time he was the oldest living People’s Artist of the USSR.