Abdurauf Fitrat and his poems

Abdurauf Fitrat was born in 1886 in Bukhara in the family of the money-changer and merchant Abdurahimboy. He studied first at an old-style school, then at the Mir Arab madrasa. In 1904–1907 he travelled with his father to Turkey, Iran, India, Arabia and Russia, and his outlook broadened. In 1909–1913 he studied at a teachers’ school in Istanbul; in 1909 he published the book “Munozara” in Persian, and in 1911–1912 the poem collection “Sayha” and “Hind sayyohi qissasi”. After returning home he opened new-method (jadid) schools in Shahrisabz and Karki, and wrote works such as “Rahbari najot”, “Oila” and “Begijon” and school textbooks (“Muxtasar islom tarixi”, “O‘qu”). In 1917–1918 he was editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Hurriyat”. In 1918 he founded the society “Chig‘atoy gurungi” in Tashkent, and in 1919 became a friend of Cho‘lpon. His plays (“Chin sevish”, “Abulfayzxon”, “Arslon” and others) were staged. He worked as a professor in Moscow and Samarkand and wrote scholarly books such as “Aruz haqida” (1936). He was arrested on 24 April 1937, accused of being an “enemy of the people” and executed on 4 October 1938; later, in the years of independence, his name was restored, a two-volume “Tanlangan asarlar” was published in 2000 and he was awarded the Alisher Navoiy State Prize.