Oqiljon Husanov

Oqiljon Husanov was born in April 1932 in the village of Ravotlik in the Jizzakh district (now Sharof Rashidov district), into a farming family. He attended secondary school in 1940–1949 and then studied at Samarkand State University (1949–1954).

After university he worked on the Samarkand regional newspaper “Lenin yo‘lida”, rising from proofreader to executive secretary. He had begun writing while still a student.

In 1960 Husanov moved to Tashkent and worked at the satirical magazine Mushtum as a literary staff member, head of a department and executive secretary. In 1967 he joined the magazine Sharq yulduzi, where until 1979 he was first a department head and then executive secretary. From 1980 he held various posts at the magazine Guliston, rising to deputy editor-in-chief.

His books appeared from the 1960s onward: “The Singer’s Fate” (1963), “Mehri daryolar” (1971), “Bo‘lmaganga bo‘lishma” (1973), “The Boy Who Grew Up in the Mountains” (1975) and “The Beauty of Kashgar” (1976). Later came “The Mysterious Man” (1980), “The Ring Never Worn” (1983), “Where Is Happiness” (1987), “A Journey to the Village” (1988) and “The Master’s Love” (1991); the “Tale of Goroghli” is also credited to him. His works draw on childhood memories, young people’s dreams and love stories, and some were translated into Russian and other languages.

In 1982 he was given the honorary title Honoured Worker of Culture of the Uzbek SSR. Oqiljon Husanov died in 2001.