Odil Yoqubov and “Ulug‘bek xazinasi”

Odil Yoqubov is one of the leading writers of Uzbek literature. Documents state that he was born on 20 October 1926 in the village of Qarnoq in the Turkistan region, while the textbook says he was actually born in 1927; most reference sources give 1926–2009. His father Egamberdi Yoqubov held responsible posts and did not return after being arrested in 1937. Yoqubov finished school in 1944 and in 1945, aged seventeen, went to the war as a volunteer: he served in the Far East, crossed the Gobi Desert on foot, took part in the fighting against Japan and returned home in 1950. In 1951–1956 he studied Russian language and literature at the Central Asian State University, then worked as an adviser at the Writers’ Union, as a correspondent of “Literaturnaya gazeta” and as editor-in-chief of the weekly “O‘zbekiston adabiyoti va san’ati”. He chaired the Writers’ Union in 1989–1996 and the Terminology Committee in 1996–2004. He died in Tashkent on 21 December 2009. His first work, the novella “Tengdoshlar”, appeared in 1951; later came plays, novellas and the novels “Er boshiga ish tushsa”, “Diyonat”, “Ulug‘bek xazinasi”, “Ko‘hna dunyo”, “Oqqushlar, oppoq qushlar”, “Adolat manzili” and “Osiy banda”.