Komil Yashin

Komil Yashin ( — 25 September 1997) was a Soviet-Uzbek author, poet, dramatist, and screenwriter. Ogonyok magazine described him as "the greatest modern Uzbek playwright".

Yashin held many high-level political offices in the Soviet Union and served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He received numerous awards and titles, including the title People's Writer of the Uzbek SSR in 1959, the Stalin Prize in 1951, and the title Hero of Socialist Labor in 1974.

Early life and career Komil Noʻmonov was born on in Andijan to an Uzbek family. After graduating high school he started his literary activity, taking on the pen name Yashin in 1925.

Yashin became a member of the Communist Party in 1943. He held many high-level political offices. He served as head of the General Directorate of Arts under the Council of Ministers from 1946 to 1949. From 1958 to 1980, he served as the chairman of the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan. He was also the chairman of the Soviet Liaison Committee for Afro-Asian Writers and served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He died in Tashkent after a long illness on 25 September 1997 at the age of 87.

Works Much of Yashin's work are dramas with political themes. His earliest dramas include Kar quloq, Teng tengi bilan, Lolaxon, and Quyosh.

In the years leading up to World War II, Yashin wrote librettos for the first national operas in the Uzbek SSR, such as Boʻron and Ulugʻ kanal. He continued to write plays during the war, which included Oʻlim bosqinchilarga (co-authored with Sobir Abdulla), Farod va Shirin and Oftobxon, some of which were focused on themes relating to the struggles against the Nazi invaders to boost the morale of Soviet troops. He authored and co-authored numerous other plays with political and cultural themes including Ravshan va Zulxumor and Inqilob tongi.

Influence of Hamza Hakim-zade Niyazi Yashin had been friends with the famous Uzbek writer Hamza Hakim-zade Niyazi, who was stoned to death in Shohimardon by religious fanatics in 1929 for alleged blasphemy. He dedicated many works to Hamza. In 1960, Yashin wrote a musical about him titled Hamza. He was one of the screenwriters of the TV series Fiery Roads, where Hamza was featured as the main protagonist. Yashin also wrote a two-volume novel about Hamza, with the first volume being published in 1979 and the second in 1980.

Yashin also reworked many original plays by Hamza. In 1939, he created a new version of Hamza's play Boy ila xizmatchi. Another play by Hamza he reworked was Paranji sirlaridan bir lavha, which focused on the plight of women in pre-Soviet Uzbekistan.

Legacy Yashin has been widely praised for his contributions to Uzbek literature tradition. The Soviet writer Nikolai Tikhonov described him as one of the most famous students of Hamza Hakim-zade Niyazi. There are streets bearing his name in Tashkent and Andijan.

Accolades Honored Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1939) Stalin Prize 3rd class (1951) State Hamza Prize (1967) People's Writer of the Uzbek SSR (1969) Three Orders of Lenin (18 March 1959; 16 January 1970; 27 September 1974) Three Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (16 January 1950; 6 December 1951; 1 March 1965) Order of Friendship of Peoples (16 November 1984) Three Order of the Badge of Honor (31 May 1937; 24 March 1945; 11 January 1957) Medal "For Distinguished Labour" (25 December 1944)