Abdulla Qodiriy

Abdulla Qodiriy (April 10, 1894 – October 4, 1938) was an Uzbek playwright, poet, writer, and literary translator. Qodiriy was one of the most influential Uzbek writers of the 20th century. He introduced realism into Uzbek literature through his historical novels and influenced many other Central Asian novelists.

Qodiriy wrote under various pen names, the most renowned being Julqunboy. His early works were influenced by the Jadid movement. Qodiriy was executed during the Great Purge under Joseph Stalin. In particular, he translated Gogol's Marriage (1842) into Uzbek. He is rumoured to have written another novel, Emir Umar's Slave Girl, set in the early nineteenth century during the reigns of Emir Umar, khan of Kokand, and his son, Matali. This novel (if it existed) is assumed to have been destroyed by the NKVD after Qodiriy's arrest.

Oybek's 1935 pamphlet criticizing his novels was used as evidence in his prosecution before he was executed.

In literature Qodiriy is the central character in the novel Jinlar bazmi yoxud katta o'yin (The Devils' Dance) by Hamid Ismailov, published in Tashkent in 2016, and translated into English in 2018. This is a fictionalised account of Qodiriy's arrest, interrogation and execution, containing within it Ismailov's version of Qodiriy's last, lost novel, which the author imagines him composing in his head while he is in prison.

Legacy The Tashkent State Institute of Culture in Tashkent was named after Qodiriy (spelt Kadiri); in 2012 this institute merged with the Uzbekistan Institute of Arts to become the Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture. Children: Khabibulla Qodiriy, Adiba Abdullaeva, Anisa Abdullaeva, Nazifa Abdullaeva, Masud Abdullaev.

On Uzbekistan private cargo carrier My Freighter Airlines expanded its aviation park with the arrival of a new Boeing 767 named after Abdulla Qodiriy.