Celebrated author Shodmon Otabek dies at 79

Today, on March 3, the esteemed writer and honored cultural worker of Uzbekistan, Shodmon Otabek, passed away at 79. The Uzbekistan Writers' Union reported this news.

Shodmon Otabek was born in 1946 in the village of Shirmonbuloq in the Andijan region. He graduated from the National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek in 1969. Throughout his career, he worked at the Republic Radio, the National Film Company of Uzbekistan, the Tashkent State Institute of Culture, and the "Uzbekistan Literature and Art" newspaper. From 1992 to 2003, he served as the editor-in-chief of the "Xabar" newspaper.

Over the years, the writer published several books, including "Mirzakalon Ismoiliy" (1978), "Yaproqdagi nur" (1979), "Odamiylik sinovlari" (1986), "Eng baxtli kun," "Qorbo‘ron" (1988, 2009), "Shaxmat abadiydir" (1990), and "Shirmonbuloq oqshomlari" (1995). He also authored the novellas "Yaxshi kunlarda ko‘rishaylik" and "Birkam dunyo." Continuing his research on the prominent writer Mirzakalon Ismoiliy, he published the book "Mirzakalon Ismoiliy saboqlari" in 2010.

Shodmon Otabek's book "Do‘rmon hangomalari," which features forewords by Ozod Sharafiddinov and Erkin Vohidov, has been published four times and is well-known for its humorous portrayal of the literary environment.

In addition to his literary work, Shodmon Otabek was also an accomplished translator. He skillfully translated works by L. Tolstoy, M. Zoshchenko, V. Shukshin, B. Sarnov, Ye. Gik, and A. Nesin into Uzbek. He published separate books of L. Tolstoy's stories for children and Aziz Nesin's satirical stories.

Shodmon Otabek's works have been translated into Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, and Turkish. He was awarded the "Shuhrat" medal for his contributions.