Naim Karimov

A well-known writer and scholar, Doctor of Philological Sciences, professor, author of scientific and popular works, Beruniy Prize laureate, and Honored Scientist of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Naim Karimov devoted his entire life to the field of literature and served his people and country. For his selfless service in perpetuating the memory of the victims of the colonial era, he was awarded the high title of the "El-Yurt Hurmati" order.

Biography

Uzbek literary scholar Naim Fatihovich Karimov was born on December 12, 1932, in Tashkent to an intellectual family. He graduated from SAGU (now the National University of Uzbekistan) in 1955 with a degree in philology.

Naim Karimov has been serving at the Alisher Navoi Institute of Language and Literature since he graduated from the university in 1955. He created dozens of books and hundreds of articles, delivered lectures at various conferences and symposia, was awarded the Republican State Prize named after Beruniy for his bright scientific activity, and was awarded the scientific title of Doctor of Philological Sciences and professor. In short, as a result of his nearly half-century of creative activity, Naim Karimov became one of the unique and inimitable representatives of Uzbek literary studies. In any case, it is impossible to imagine the development of Uzbek literature in the second half of the 20th century without Naim Karimov.

It is known that in recent years, complete collections of works by Oybek (20 volumes), Hamid Olimjon (10 volumes), and Gafur Gulam (12 volumes) have been published. Along with them, the 5-volume collection of works by Hamza Hakimzoda should also be added. Naim Karimov participated in all of these works either as a scientific supervisor or as an active participant.

During the years of independence, a new theme of great importance appeared in Naim Karimov's work. This is the theme of mass repressions in the Soviet era, and Naim Karimov tried to shed light on its aspects related to literature and thus restore the unread or misread pages of our recent history. This endeavor began to be worked on in his creative work on a very large scale, especially starting from 1991. For example, his articles such as "Narkompros Ishi," "Cho'lpon Uchun Kishan," "Assalomu Alaykum, Dorning Og'ochi," "Qodiriyning Boshi - Yangi Yil Sovg'asi," and "Tosh Ekan Bu Boshim," published in the then-popular magazine "Fan va Turmush," opened up aspects of our literature that had never been mentioned until then, albeit in a quite concise form.

For several years, Naim Karimov has been working as the chairman of the commission for perpetuating the memory of the victims of the colonial era. He showed great zeal, especially in the construction of the "Shahidlar Xotirasi" memorial complex, as well as in the organization of the "Qatag'on Qurbonlari Xotirasi" museum. Today, organizing the "Qatag'on Qurbonlari Xotirasi" museum is an extremely difficult task because finding the photos, manuscripts, documents, clothing, and other items left by them is a very difficult job. Despite this, the necessary exhibits were collected, and the museum was opened on time.