Sora Abdurahmonovna Eshontoʻrayeva[a] (8 November [O.S. 26 October] 1911 – 8 September 1998) was a Soviet and Uzbek actress. She was one of the first actresses of the Uzbek SSR to gain national prominence. She was described as a "pearl of the Uzbek scene".[1]
Early life
Sora Abdurahmonovna Eshontoʻrayeva was born on 8 November [O.S. 26 October] 1911 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.[1] In her youth she attended the Zeb-un-Nissa boarding school for girls in Tashkent, where she began acting in plays.[2] When she was only nine years old she had to start wearing a paranja, and later was bethrothed to a neighbor, but she soon abandoned wearing the face-veil and eventually married fellow artist Abror Hidoyatov.[3][4][5]
She left Uzbekistan in 1924 as part of a group of 24 Uzbek theater students chosen to study in Moscow.[6] The students would later form the Hamza Drama Theater.[7] 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 who was killed when the group was on tour in Bukhara in 1928,[8] followed by the murder of Hamza in Shohimardon in 1929.[9][10]
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 Komil Yashin as well as old classics such as Hamlet by Shakespeare, 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.[11][12]
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.[13][14][15]
Eshontoʻrayeva died in Tashkent on 8 September 1998 and was buried in the Chigatoy cemetery.[12][16]
Family
Her husband Abror Hidoyatov was theater actor who received the title People's Artist of the USSR in 1945. Her son Goga Hidoyatov wasa historian, professor, and doctor of historical sciences who received the title Honored Worker of Science of the Republic of Uzbekistan.[17] Her grandaughters Nigora Gogovna Hidoyatova and Nodira Gogovna Hidoyatova are entrepreneurs.[17]
Uzbek: Sora Abdurahmonovna Eshontoʻrayeva, Сора Абдураҳмоновна Эшонтўраева
Russian: Сара Абдурахмановна Ишантураева, romanized: Sara Abdurakhmanovna Ishanturayeva
References
^ abҲамза Ҳакимзода Ниёзий номли санъатшунослик институти; Институт искусствознания имени Хамзы Хаким-заде Ниязи (1957). Государственный ордена Ленина академический театр драмы имени Хамзы [State Order of Lenin Academic Drama Theatre named after Hamza] (in Russian). Гос. изд-во худож. лит-ры, УзССР.
^Vershinina, I (1952). "Судьба актрисы" [Fate of an actress]. Ogonyok (47).
^Karimov, N. (1979). Ҳамид Олимжон: Шоир ҳаёти ва ижодидан лавҳалар [Hamid Olimjon: Scenes from the poet's life and work] (in Uzbek). Ŭzbekiston LKSM markaziĭ komiteti "Ësh gvardii︠a︡" nashriëti.
^"О награждении работников Узбекского Музыкального театра и Узбекской Филармонии — участников декады узбекского искусства в Москве" [About the award of workers of the Uzbek Musical Theater and the Uzbek Philharmonic - members of the decade of Uzbek art in Moscow]. Pravda (in Russian). No. 149. 1 June 1937. p. 1.
^"Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР О награждении орденами и медалями работников промышленности, сельского науки, культуры и искусства Узбекской ССР" [Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR On awarding orders and medals to workers in industry, rural science, culture and art of the Uzbek SSR]. Pravda Vostoka (in Russian). No. 23. 29 January 1950.
^"Указ Президента Республики Узбекистан О награждении посмертно деятелей науки, литературы и искусства, внесших огромный вклад в развитие науки и культуры Узбекистана" [Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan On posthumous awarding of figures of science, literature and art who have made a huge contribution to the development of science and culture of Uzbekistan]. Narodnoe slovo (in Russian). No. 174–175. 26 August 2004. p. 1.