G‘ozi Yunus

G‘ozi Yunus was a skilled journalist, mature short-story writer, and author of a number of folk poems, a prominent playwright, a master of satire, as well as a public figure and actor. He served as an organizer of the newspapers «Zarafshon» and the magazine «Mushtum». He was a prominent representative of the literature of the Enlightenment and Jadid movement. He created a number of works and plays. He held the title of "Hero of Labor and Press".
G‘ozi Yunus is one of the prominent representatives of Uzbek literature of the 20th-century national revival period. As a skilled journalist, mature short-story writer, author of a number of folk poems, prominent playwright, and public figure, he holds a worthy place in the history of our culture. G‘ozi Yunus was born in 1887 in the Oxunguzar neighborhood of Tashkent into a family of intellectuals and craftsmen. There were four sons in the family, all raised by their parents to be both literate and skilled in a trade. Because G‘ozi Yunus participated in the construction of the new city as a construction worker alongside his father, he mastered the Russian language early and perfectly. He thoroughly learned Arabic and Persian in a madrasa.

After graduating from the madrasa with honors in 1915, G‘ozi Yunus developed an interest in folk songs and music, learned to play the dutar and tanbur, and became known as a singer. In 1916, he was drafted for labor service, participated in the Baltic front, and returned home shortly after as an invalid. On the eve of the revolution, he worked as a chief secretary in the «Committee for Aid to the Needy» formed in the Eshonguzar neighborhood and spent some time in prison due to a false accusation. Thus, his epic «Prison Memory or The Consequence of Injustice» was born. After that, he began to appear gradually on the pages of the press with his poems and played roles on theater stages. In particular, he participated as an actor in Abdulla Qodiriy's drama «Baxtsiz kuyov» («The Unhappy Groom»). Later, he played the role of the justice-seeking blacksmith Temirtosh in the drama «Zahhoki moron» («Zahhak's Snakes»), which he himself created.

He is also known to the people as an organizer of the national Uzbek press and our publishing house. He brought technical equipment and printing letters for printing houses from the cities of Bukhara and Baku. He worked zealously to organize the Eski Juva printing house in Tashkent. He worked as an organizer of the newspapers «Turkiston», «Qizil bayroq», «Zarafshon» and the magazine «Mushtum». For a long time, he was an editor for newspapers and magazines such as «Qizil bayroq» and «Mushtum». He himself wrote: «I worked in the state publishing house. I participated in newspapers such as «Ishtirokiyun», «Qizil bayroq», «Qizil O‘zbekiston», «Zarafshon», «Yangi yo‘l», «Rosta» and worked as an editor for many of them.» For his active services in such a broad front, the Tashkent City Executive Committee awarded him the title of "Hero of Labor and Press" in 1921.
However, starting from 1929, the view of him changed, and he came under political persecution. Like others, he was arrested on August 6, 1937, under the labels of «enemy of the people», «pan-Turkist», and «pan-Islamist». On May 5, 1942, he passed away in a prison in the city of Vologda due to hunger and illness.

It is worth noting that in the work of G‘ozi Yunus, the piece «Zahhoki moron» («Zahhak's Snakes») has special importance. The work is based on the famous epic «Shahnameh» by Ferdowsi, and the story of «Zahhak and the blacksmith Kaveh» is at the center of the drama. This work was first staged on September 28, 1919, at the «Colosseum» theater under the direction of Mannon Uighur. Cholpon also expressed warm thoughts about this work, evaluating it as a work that the «people yearn for». In short, studying and evaluating the work of G‘ozi Yunus is necessary not only to determine his place in history, but also to understand the socio-political environment of the repression era and its purpose and essence more deeply, and to correctly grasp the processes of national thinking.