Yaya Şerfedinov

Yaya Sherfedinov (, ; 16 March 1894 — 29 January 1975) was a Soviet-Crimean Tatar composer, musician, and poet. Born to a poor family in Feodosia, he began playing the violin at a young age. He was a graduate of the prestigious Moscow Conservatory. Before exile from Crimea, he worked in Crimea for the Crimean Radio Committee, the Crimean Tatar State Drama Theater, and the State Song and Dance Ensemble of the Crimean Tatars. When he was not composing new music, he wrote down compilations of many Crimean Tatar folksongs. In exile in Uzbekistan, he continued his musical work, and expanded to writing music for an Uzbek play, working with Uzbek composer Toʻxtasin Jalilov; however, most of his work centered around Crimean Tatar folksongs. His works spanned many themes.