Xudoyberdi To‘xtaboyev and “Sariq devni minib”

Xudoyberdi To‘xtaboyev was born on 17 December 1932 in the village of Katta Tagob in the Fergana region. He lost his parents early and was raised by his grandparents. He graduated from the Kokand pedagogical college in 1949 and Tashkent State University in 1955; he first worked as a teacher and from 1958 as a journalist. He wrote more than 300 humorous articles (feuilletons). His best-known works are “Sariq devni minib” (1968), its sequel “Sariq devning o‘limi” (1973), “Omonboy va Davronboy sarguzashti” (1974), “Besh bolali yigitcha” and “Shirin qovunlar mamlakati”. “Sariq devni minib” has been translated into 24 languages and the Italian children’s writer Gianni Rodari also praised it. In 1991 he received the title People’s Writer of Uzbekistan.