Oydin

Oydin (born Manzura Sobirova; Russian-language reference works transliterate her pen name as "Aydyn") was born on 20 November 1906 in the Degrez neighbourhood of the old city of Tashkent, into a craftsman's family. She lost her mother in her youth. She first attended a traditional school and from 1918 a new-method one, where she learned to read and write.

In 1919 she entered the women's teacher-training institution in Tashkent (INPROS) and graduated in 1923, then taught at a primary school in the Taxtapul neighbourhood. She began writing in 1924; her play "Yangilikka qadam" ("A Step Toward the New"), which called for women's emancipation, was published in 1925 and drew the notice of literary circles. From 1927 she studied at the pedagogical academy in Samarkand, where she became close to Hamid Olimjon and Uyg'un, an acquaintance that mattered for her work.

Oydin entered literature through poetry: the collections "Tong qo'shig'i" ("Morning Song", 1931) and "Chechan qo'llar" ("Skilful Hands", 1932) and a book of verse in 1937 belong to this period. In 1931 she headed a department at the Uzbek state publishing house, from 1932 to 1937 she was executive secretary of the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan, from 1938 to 1941 deputy editor of the magazine Yorqin hayot, and from 1941 to 1945 editor of literary broadcasts at the Uzbek Radio Committee. She joined the Communist Party in 1940.

Later she turned mainly to prose. Her books "Chaqaloqqa chakmoncha" (1939), "Qizlarjon" (1943), "Shirin keldi" (1944), "Mardlik – mangulik" (1947) and "Hikoya va ocherklar" (1952) deal with the new family, love and fidelity, and with the fate of women crushed by old customs. She also wrote essays on performing artists such as M. Turg'unboyeva and H. Nosirova, as well as critical and literary-journalistic articles.

From 1946 until the end of her life she was editor-in-chief of the magazine O'zbekiston xotin-qizlari ("Women of Uzbekistan"). According to reference sources she twice received the Order of the Badge of Honour.

Oydin died in Tashkent on 30 May 1953. A collection of stories appeared posthumously in 1954, with further volumes in 1967, 1975 ("Shiringa maktub") and 1985 ("Gulsanam"). The poet Zulfiya (1953) and the literary scholar S. Mirzayev (1965) wrote an essay and a literary portrait about her. A street in Tashkent is named after her.