Matrasul Khudoyberganov

Matrasul Matchonovich Khudoyberganov was an educator and school administrator who ran public education in the Khorezm region for many years. He was born on 4 May 1916 in the village of Ko'raklar, in what is now Shovot district. His father, Matchon, died in 1918, and the boy was raised by his mother.

He finished a seven-year school in 1934 and went on to a teacher-training school; in 1939–1941 he studied at the pedagogical institute in Urgench, and in 1953 he completed the Khorezm pedagogical institute by correspondence. He began teaching in the mid-1930s in the primary grades, later taught at a seven-year school and became its head.

During the war years he worked in Yangiariq district, first as deputy head for academic affairs and then as head of a school. In 1942–1943 he fought near Kursk, was wounded several times and was demobilised. Back in his home village he directed schools in Shovot district, and in 1948 he took over the district department of public education.

From September 1953 he was deputy editor of the newspaper Xorazm haqiqati (“Khorezm Truth”). From 1959 to 1980 he headed the Khorezm regional directorate of public education, where his concerns included equipping schools and staffing them with qualified teachers. He returned to the newspaper as deputy editor in 1980–1981 and from 1981 until his death directed the regional institute for retraining public-education staff.

He received a number of awards and honours, and sources describe him as an Honoured Teacher of the Uzbek SSR. In the press he wrote about the problems of schools and teachers; in a 1981 discussion among journalists his article “Yashashdan maqsad” (“The Purpose of Life”) was singled out. He died in 1983.