Abdurauf Fitrat Исполнитель

Abdurauf Fitrat

Abdurauf Fitrat holds an important place in Uzbek literature as a poet and a scholar, a teacher and a writer.

He wa born in 1886 in Bukhara to an educated family. He was educated at Istanbul Madrassah and University. As he knew Arabic, Farsi and Turkish, he could read the famous books of Asia. Because his father was a man of trade, they stayed in Kashkar until 1918. Fitrat went to Turkey in 1909 and studied at the university until 1913. His first literary works were published there.

The professors of the university were astonished by his capacity and poetic talent. He was given the pen-name Fitrat, which means “wise”. Later he worked as an editor at an editorial office.

He wrote a lot of poems, novels and plays. He wrote the textbooks “Uzbek Literature” and “Uzbek Language”. He wanted his people to be educated. He called on his people to become educated.

In 1937 Fitrat was accused of being an enemy of the people and was arrested. After this date the fate of the writer is unknown,

The destiny of his works was equally tragic.

Like the writer, the work was subjected to the same accusations and was used as a propaganda tool. In addition, the alphabet change contributed to the tragic destiny of his work. Books and source materials written in Arabic script became completely foreign and unknown to the generations born after 1920. But some materials were kept by intellectuals.

In 1991 on September 25 he was posthumously given an Alisher Navoi Republic State Award for his great contribution to Uzbek literature.

Comprehension Questions

1. What does “Fitrat” mean? Where did Abdurauf Fitrat get that name?
2. What did he write?
3. What do we know about Fitrat’s later life?
4. How did the change from Arabic script affect the fate of Fitrat’s works?

Discussion Questions

1. Why did Fitrat want his people to be educated? Why do you think people should be educated?
2. For what might he has been called an “enemy of the people”? How can a work of literature be considered “an enemy of the peo1e”?
3. What do you know about the politics of the late 1930s? How did this affect literature and culture?
4. What do you know about the history of the alphabets that have been used to write Uzbek? Why were they changed and when? How does the change to the Latin alphabet affect you? What effect will it have on works written before now? How will it affect people’s ability to read?