The media community and creative unions of Uzbekistan have launched a major initiative to commemorate the upcoming 100th anniversary of Kayum Murtazaev, a distinguished statesman and Honored Cultural Worker of Uzbekistan. Journalists and writers have appealed to the republic's leadership to officially establish four state scholarships named after Murtazaev for specialized higher education institutions in Fergana, Tashkent, Navoi, and Bukhara.
Additional proposals include organizing an annual scientific-practical seminar to study his legacy, launching a traveling photo exhibition across the country, publishing a comprehensive photo album with a scientific biography, and establishing a Scientific-Applied Educational Center for Creative Ideas in Bukhara bearing his name.
Kayum Murtazaevich Murtazaev was born on August 14, 1926, in Kanibadam. He graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Fergana State Pedagogical Institute. He began his career as a worker at the Uzplodoovoshch base, then moved to Komsomol work, rising from second secretary of the city committee to first secretary of the Fergana regional committee of the Komsomol of Uzbekistan. In 1952, he became secretary of the Central Committee of the republic's Komsomol for personnel, and from 1952 to 1958 he led the Komsomol of Uzbekistan.
In 1958, he was transferred to Moscow as secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union (VLKSM). Upon returning to Uzbekistan, he held key party and state positions: first secretary of the Tashkent City Party Committee (1960-1965), first secretary of the Bukhara Regional Party Committee (1965-1977), and chairman of the State Committee for Labor and Social Security of the Uzbek SSR (1977-1982).
Under Murtazaev's leadership, Tashkent saw the construction of iconic landmarks such as the TSUM department store with the first underground passage, the Chilanzar shopping center, the Palace of Arts, and the Rossiya Hotel, as well as the start of the ring road. In Bukhara, he made a huge contribution to the region's industrial and cultural development.
Murtazaev was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, and two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, and was granted the title 'Honored Cultural Worker of the Uzbek SSR.' He died on May 25, 1982, in Tashkent and was buried at the Chagatai cemetery.
Veteran journalists remember him as an outstanding orator who knew how to listen and support bold ideas. His managerial experience, including moving away from the cotton monopoly, saving water resources, and modernizing housing, anticipated many reforms of New Uzbekistan. The initiative of the creative unions aims to preserve historical continuity and the country's cultural code.
Source: podrobno.uz