Umida Abduazimova

Umida Abduazimova was born in 1953 in Tashkent, in the Bobodehqon neighbourhood of the Yunusabad district. She finished school with a gold medal and in 1970–1975 studied at the journalism faculty of Tashkent State University (now the National University of Uzbekistan).

She began work as an editor in the literary and drama programmes department of Uzbek television. She then held various posts at the republican youth newspaper (Yosh leninchi), the magazine Yosh kuch and the newspaper Ma'rifat, where she was deputy editor-in-chief in 1990–1995.

From 1995 she headed the newspaper Tong yulduzi, and from 2007 the magazine for children and teenagers G'uncha. Journalism and poetry ran side by side through her working life.

Her first collection of poems, “Sevilganda”, came out in 1977. It was followed by “Ishqli umrim” (1979), “Kurtak” (1982), “Umrim ziynati” (1990), “Oymomabog‘” (1991), “Sevinchim” (1992) and other books. After independence she published collections such as “Arazlamang” (2002), “O‘n sakkizdan o‘tgim yo‘q” (2003), “Shirintoy” (2005) and “Yozilmagan kitob” (2007).

She also wrote verse for children. Nearly a hundred of her poems have been set to music and sung by well-known performers.

She received the Shuhrat medal in 1997 and holds the title of Honoured Worker of Culture of Uzbekistan. One source adds that she was awarded the Order of Labor Glory (Mehnat shuhrati) in 2019.