Mahmud Khodiyev, known by his pen name Botu, was born on May 16, 1904, in the Qatorterak neighborhood of Tashkent. He first studied at an old-method school, then at a Russian-native school and teacher training courses.

In 1918, he joined the “Izchi” group at the “Vatan” school, and from 1919 to 1921, he was a member of the “Chig‘atoy gurungi” led by Abdurauf Fitrat. He began his career in 1920 as secretary of the journal “Tong” edited by Fitrat, later working for the newspaper “Farg‘ona”.

From 1921 to 1923, he studied at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University. After returning in 1927, he worked as an instructor in the press department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan and as head of the central party school in Samarkand. He was elected to the Samarkand district party committee, where he led the propaganda and agitation department.

He edited the first Latin-script journal “Alanga” and was an organizer of the literary association “Qizil qalam”. In 1929, he was appointed Deputy People's Commissar of Education of the Uzbek SSR.

His first poem “Workers' Holiday” was written in 1919. His collections “Sparks of Hope” (1925) and “Sounds of the Wave” (1929) were published. The stories “New Village”, “Hoshimjon”, and “Tursun” appeared in 1928-1929.

In 1930, he was arrested as a “counter-revolutionary”, “nationalist”, and “enemy of the people”. He was executed on May 9, 1938. On this occasion, Gazeta has prepared a quiz based on his works.

Source: www.gazeta.uz