A Samarkand jadid and close associate of Behbudiy who wrote plays and articles for the reform press and taught in new-method schools. He was a victim of the Stalinist repressions.
A teacher of Samarkand
Hoji Muin ibn Shukrullo was born in Samarkand on 19 March 1883. He studied at a madrasa under the poet Saidahmad Vasliy and taught himself Russian. He began teaching in 1901, opened a new-method school in his own neighbourhood in 1903, and in 1914 started a private school called Tarbiyat — "Upbringing".
Stage and press
Close to Behbudiy, he wrote for the Samarqand newspaper and the journal Oyna from 1913. His seven plays — among them To'y ("The Wedding"), Eski maktab, yangi maktab ("Old School, New School"), Mazluma xotin ("The Oppressed Wife") and Ko'knori ("Opium") — attacked ruinous customs from the stage. After 1917 he edited Mehnatkashlar tovushi and founded the satirical journals Tayoq (1920) and Mashrab (1924).
Arrests and Solikamsk
In 1929 he was accused of "counter-revolutionary activity" and exiled to Siberia. He returned in 1932, only to be arrested again and sentenced to ten years. He died in prison in Solikamsk, in the Urals, on 21 July 1942, and was rehabilitated in 1963.
Key achievements
- Wrote seven plays, among them Eski maktab, yangi maktab ("Old School, New School") and Ko'knori ("Opium")
- Edited Mehnatkashlar tovushi and founded the satirical journals Tayoq and Mashrab
- Opened a new-method school in his Samarkand neighbourhood in 1903