Sora Abdurahmonovna Eshontoʻrayeva. ( — 8 September 1998) was a Soviet and Uzbek actress. She was one of the first actresses of the

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English language, English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, ...

to gain national prominence. She was described as a "pearl of the Uzbek scene".

Early life

Sora Abdurahmonovna Eshontoʻrayeva was born on to an Uzbek peasant family in Beshbuloq village. After the death of her father when she was very young, her mother gave away her and two of her siblings to be raised by foster parents. In her youth she attended the Zeb-un-Nissa boarding school for girls in Tashkent, where she began acting in plays. When she was only nine years old she had to start wearing a

paranja Paranja or paranji (from فرنجية паранджа) is a traditional Central Asian robe for women and girls that covers the head and body. It is also known as "burqa" in Arabic. It is similar in basic style and function to other regional st ...

, and later was bethrothed to a neighbor, but she soon abandoned wearing the face-veil and eventually married fellow artist Abror Hidoyatov. She left Uzbekistan in 1924 as part of a group of 24 Uzbek theater students chosen to study in Moscow. The students would later form the Hamza Drama Theater. The group returned to Uzbekistan in 1927, where they were in danger of being attacked by religious fanatics for their encouragement of unveiling. Several of Eshontoʻrayeva's colleagues were murdered by religious fanatics, including

Tursunoy Saidazimova Tursunoy Saidazimova (russian: Турсуной Саидазимова; 1911 – 10 May 1928), occasionally transliterated as Tursunoi Saidazimova, was one of the first Uzbek actresses in the Uzbek SSR and one of the first to sing onstage without ...

who was killed when the group was on tour in

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

in 1928, followed by the murder of

Hamza Hamza ( ar, همزة ') () is a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop . Hamza is not one of the 28 "full" letters and owes its existence to historical inconsistencies in the standard writing system. It is derived from ...

Shohimardon Shohimardon (also ''Shakhimardan'', uz, Shohimardon / Шоҳимардон, russian: Шахимардан, Shakhimardan) is a village and a subdivision (rural community) of Fergana District, Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. It is an exclav ...

in 1929.

Family

Husband - Abror Hidoyatov (1900-1958), theater

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

(1945) Son - Goga Hidoyatov (1930-2015),

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

, doctor of historical sciences. Honored Worker of Science of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Granddaughter - Nigora Gogovna Hidoyatova (b. 1964), entrepreneur, candidate of historical sciences,

public figure A public figure is a person who has achieved notoriety, prominence or fame within a society, whether through achievement, luck, action, or in some cases through no purposeful action of their own, In the context of defamation actions (libel and s ...

. Granddaughter - Nodira Gogovna Hidoyatova (b. 1967), entrepreneur,

, leader of the coalition "Sunny Uzbekistan".

Career

Having graduated theater school and relocated to Samarkand in 1927, Eshontoʻrayeva's acting career took off by the 1930s. She played lead roles in major plays, including Tursunoy in the play ''Hujum'' and Beatrice in ''The Servant of Two Masters.'' She went on to act as the lead female protagonist in many more productions at the theater, which included both new Uzbek plays by playwrights such as Hamza and

Kamil Yashin Kamil Yashin (birth name Nugmanov) (1909-1997) was a Soviet-Uzbekistani poet, screenwriter, and celebrity. He was awarded the titles People's Writer of the Uzbek SSR in 1959, Hero of Socialist Labor in 1974, and the USSR State Prize in 1951. Ea ...

as well as old classics such as

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, in which she played the role of Ophelia. From 1946 to 1955 and 1981 to 1985, she served as chairman of the board of the Theater Society of the Uzbek SSR. She also appeared in several films."Эшонтўраева Сора Абдураҳмоновна" '' OʻzME; Қизилқумит—Ҳўрмуз''. 11-jild. Toshkent, 2005-yil In addition to her work as an actress, Eshontoʻrayeva was active in politics. She became a member of the Communist Party in 1939. She was also a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR, a delegate to the 19th Congress of the Communist Party, and a deputy in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the 2nd to 4th convocations (1946 to 1958). She also served as chairman of the board of the Uzbek branch of the Soviet Peace Foundation. Eshontoʻrayeva died in Tashkent on 8 September 1998 and was buried in the Chigatoy cemetery.

Awards

* People's Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1937) *

(1951) *

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize * The Stalin Peace Prize, awarded 1949 to 1955, later known as the Lenin Peace Prize The Int ...

(1949) *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(1977) *

State Hamza Prize The State Hamza Prize or simply the Hamza Prize, officially the State Prize of the Uzbek SSR Named After Hamza ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Hamza nomidagi Oʻzbekiston SSR Davlat mukofoti, Ҳамза номидаги Ўзбекистон ССР Давлат м� ...

(1967) * Two

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

(1945 and 1971) *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

(1991) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labor The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the ...

(1937, 1950, 1951, 1957, and 1959) *

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units ...

(1981) *

Order of the Badge of Honor The Order of the Badge of Honour (russian: орден «Знак Почёта», orden "Znak Pochyota") was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding ...

(1939) *

Medal "For Distinguished Labour" The Medal "For Distinguished Labour" (russian: Медаль «За трудовое отличие») was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union bestowed to especially deserving workers to recognise and honour high performances in labour o ...

(1944) * Sogʻlom Avlod Uchun Order (1993) *

Order of Outstanding Merit The Order of Outstanding Merit ( Uzbek: ''Buyuk xizmatlari uchun'') is an order that is currently awarded by the Republic of Uzbekistan. Design The Order of Outstanding Merit is made from 925 probe silver alloy plated with 0.25 micron thick gol ...

(2004, posthumously)

Notes

References