Ibrohim Gafurov, a renowned literary scholar, translator, and public figure who held the title of Hero of Uzbekistan, has died at the age of 87. The news was confirmed by the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan.

Born on December 27, 1937, in Tashkent into a craftsman's family, Gafurov graduated from the philology faculty of what is now the National University of Uzbekistan in 1961. He spent decades in publishing and journalism: from 1961 to 1982 he worked at the State Publishing House of Fiction, rising from junior editor to deputy editor-in-chief, and from 1982 to 1995 served as deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Uzbekiston adabiyoti va san'ati" (Literature and Art of Uzbekistan).

Gafurov was also a political figure. In 1995, he initiated the creation of the democratic party "Milliy Tiklanish" (National Revival), serving as its chairman and editor-in-chief of its newspaper until 2006. From 1997 to 2005, he was a deputy of the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) and deputy chairman of the Committee on Press and Information.

His literary output includes critical and artistic works such as "Diamond Facets of Beauty," "Unforgotten Garden," "Charisma," "Burning Word," "Green Tree," "Heart is Flame," "Heart of Lyrics," "Poetry Means Search," "Thirty Years' Confession," and "Freedom of Language." He also gained recognition for his prose poems "The Gate," "My Humo Bird," and "My Swallow."

Gafurov translated numerous world literary masterpieces into Uzbek, including Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment," "The Idiot," "The Gambler," "Demons," and "The Brothers Karamazov"; Guy de Maupassant's "Bel Ami"; Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Old Man and the Sea"; Chingiz Aitmatov's "The Place of the Skull" and "The White Cloud of Genghis Khan"; Valentin Rasputin's "The Fire"; Gabriel García Márquez's "The Autumn of the Patriarch"; and James Joyce's "Ulysses."

Gafurov held a Candidate of Philological Sciences degree (1973), was a laureate of the Youth Prize of Uzbekistan (1989), and received the "Dustlik" (Friendship) Order (1995) and "Mehnat shuhrati" (Labor Glory) Order (2007). In 2017, he was awarded the honorary title "Honored Art Worker of Uzbekistan," and in 2021, he was conferred the title of Hero of Uzbekistan.

His wife, People's Poet of Uzbekistan Oydin Hojieva, passed away in 2023 at the age of 81.

Source: www.gazeta.uz