Askad Mukhtar

Born Dec. 23, 1920, in Fergana. Soviet Uzbek writer. Member of the CPSU since 1954.

Mukhtar was the son of a worker. In 1942 he graduated from the department of philology at the University of Middle Asia. From 1957 to 1969 he served as secretary of the administrative board of the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan. From 1960 to 1965, Mukhtar was the editor of the magazine Shark Iulduzi (Star of the East); since 1969 he has been editor of Gulistan (Blossoming Country).

Mukhtar’s first works appeared in 1938. He was the first Uzbek writer whose works depicted the working class; such works include the narrative poem Steel Founder (1947), the poetry collection My Fellow Citizens (1949), and the collection of essays and stories City of Steel (1950). His novel Sisters (1954; Russian translation, 1957) deals with the formation of the working class in the republic and the intellectual awakening of Uzbek women. The novel Birth (1961; Russian translation, 1962) tells of the participation of young people in one of the large construction projects.

Mukhtar’s work Time in My Destiny (1964; Russian translation, 1967) is an autobiographical novel that depicts contemporary Soviet man as both creator and champion. His novel The Plane Tree (1969; Russian translation, 1970; Khamza Prize of the Uzbek SSR; 1973) is a fictionalized history of the Uzbek people, told through the fate of one family. In his Kara-Kalpak Tale (1958; Russian translation, 1958) and his poem Privy to Immortality (1969; Russian translation, 1971), Mukhtar writes about the Revolution and shows the formation of the heroic character.

Mukhtar is the author of articles of literary criticism. He has translated works by A. S. Pushkin, M. Iu. Lermontov, M. Gorky, V. V. Mayakovsky, A. A. Blok, and T. G. Shevchenko into Uzbek. He has been awarded two orders and a number of medals.