Mannon Uyg‘ur

A well-known Uzbek theater figure, mature director, actor, translator, playwright, and educator Mannon Uygur (Abdumannon Majidov) was born in 1897 in the city of Tashkent. The future artist received his education at the new-method school in Tashkent and the Ahmad Khoja Madrasah between 1909 and 1914, began his stage career in 1916 as an actor in the Turon troupe, and in 1918, on his own initiative and effort, founded the State Theater, attracting young people such as Obid Jalilov, Sayfi Qori Alimov, and Abror Hidoyatov to it.

To organize theater work well, he worked with vigor as both a director, playwright, and actor. He wrote the work "Turkistan Physician", staged it, and played the lead role himself. In the works of M. Uygur in those years, acting occupied a leading position, and he demonstrated high performance skill by creating the characters of Ogri in the works "Fanniy Uy" and "Twelve-Hour Government" written by himself, Kal in G. Zafariy's "Yorqinoy", Muslim in "Halima", Mahmudkhon in Hamza's "Poisonous Life", Gofur in "Rich and Servant", Altoul in K. Gozzi's "Princess Turandot", Miller in F. Schiller's "Intrigue and Love", and Karl Moor in "The Robbers".

Testing his strength in theater directing, M. Uygur staged works such as "Rich and Servant", "Poisonous Life", "Punishment of Slanderers" and others in 1919-1920, but he was not always satisfied with his work and, feeling that deep knowledge and skill were necessary to become a real director, he requested to be sent for studies. Between 1924 and 1927, he studied at the Uzbek drama studio in Moscow, becoming theoretically and practically acquainted with K. Stanislavsky's advanced stage style and Ye. Vakhtangov's directing.

Upon returning from his studies, he staged works such as U. Hajibekov's "Arshin Mal Alan", Khurshid's "Layli and Majnun", and "Farhod and Shirin", which are of important significance in the development of the Uzbek musical drama genre. Later, he turned to rare masterpieces of world and Russian classical dramaturgy such as "Hamlet", "Othello", and "The Government Inspector", and by successfully staging them, he reached the highest peaks of the art of directing. The fame of his directing was also recognized and received applause outside our country. "I worked as an assistant director to Og'a in very many plays at that time," relates Zikir Muhammadjonov. "However, I want to specifically note that during the work process on 'Othello', we paid attention to every inflection of speech together with Gafur Gulam. In this play, Og'a ended the life of Othello not as a victim of jealousy, but as a victim of trust, one of the most noble human virtues. Everyone knows what fame this play achieved."

During the years of the Second World War, M. Uygur staged K. Yashin's "Death to the Invaders", M. Shayxzoda's "Jaloliddin Manguberdi", and in collaboration with S. Mikhoels, H. Olimjon's "Muqanna", expressing ideas of heroism, patriotism, and hatred for the enemy. The play "Alisher Navoiy" by Uygur and Izzat Sultan, staged by M. Uygur in 1945, remained one of the masterpieces of the Uzbek stage, and for half a century it has not left the stage, has not lost its place in the eyes of the audience, and has been enriching the spiritual world of our people.

M. Uygur worked effectively not only as an actor and director but also as a playwright and translator. He wrote the plays "Turkistan Physician", "Twelve-Hour Government", and "Fanniy Uy". He translated Moliere's "The Miser", M. Urdubadu's "The Last Days of Andalusia", U. Hajibekov's "Neither Here Nor There", and V. Myasnikov's "I Am Dead" from Russian and Azerbaijani into the Uzbek language.

He established drama troupes in Bukhara, Charjow, Karki, and other cities and led the workers' youth theater. Preparing national directing personnel for our Republic, he educated and raised many talented artists. Great figures of Uzbek culture such as Abror Hidoyatov, Obid Jalilov, Ya. Bobojonov, Sharif Qayumov, Sayfi Qori Olimov, Sora Eshonto'rayeva, Shukur Burhonov, and Olim Khojayev are worthy students of M. Uygur. They continued the good work started by the master artist with honor and raised the name and fame of the Hamza Theater to great heights. As Zikir Muhammadjonov remembers, "Mannon Uygur was not only an actor, director, and theater organizer but also a very caring, kind, and devoted person who would not spare his help from anyone if he could."

Mannon Uygur's multi-faceted and meaningful creative work was awarded the title of "People's Artist of Uzbekistan" in 1932, and the State Prize in 1949 for staging the play "Alisher Navoiy".

One of the founders of Uzbek theater art, Mannon Uygur, passed away in 1955 in the city of Tashkent. The Surkhandarya regional musical drama theater and one of the central streets in Tashkent are named after him. During the years of independence, the name of Mannon Uygur was given to the Tashkent State Institute of Arts.