Erkin Vohidov

Erkin Vohidov was an Uzbek poet, playwright, literary translator, and statesman. In addition to writing his own poetry, Vohidov translated the works of many famous foreign poets, such as Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Muhammad Iqbal, Rasul Gamzatov, and Sergey Yesenin into the Uzbek language. Particularly noteworthy are his translations of Yesenin's works and Goethe's Faust.
In 1983, Vahidov was awarded the State Hamza Prize for his poetry collection Sharqiy qirgʻoq. He became a People's Poet of Uzbekistan in 1987. In 1999, he was awarded the title Hero of Uzbekistan, the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a citizen by Uzbekistan.
Vohidov's poems remain popular and are frequently published in anthologies. Dozens of his poems have been set to music by various artists, mostly notably by Sherali Joʻrayev. On occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in October 2020, a song entitled "Human" and based on Vohidov's poem "Inson" was released with lyrics in Arabic, English, Italian, Kazakh, Russian, Tajik, Turkish and Uzbek.

Life

Erkin Vohidovich Vohidov was born on December 28, 1936, in Oltiariq District, Fergana Region, then the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. His father, Choʻyanboy Vohidov, fought in the Soviet-German war against Nazi Germany and its allies and died in Tashkent after his return from the war. Vohidov was nine years old at the time. He reminisced about the hardships of the war years as follows:
In 1945, Vohidov moved to Tashkent with his mother, Roziyaxon Vohidova, who also soon died. He was raised by his uncle, Karimboy Sohiboyev. It was Vohidov's uncle who sparked his interest in poetry:
After graduating from the National University of Uzbekistan with a degree in philology in 1960, he started working at various publishing houses. Vohidov died on May 30, 2016, at the age of 79.

Work

Vohidov worked as an editor at Yosh Gvardiya, the Uzbek branch of Molodaya Gvardiya, from 1960 to 1963. He also worked as editor-in-chief at the same publishing house from 1975 to 1982. Vohidov also served as editor-in-chief and director of Gʻafur Gʻulom, another publishing house in Tashkent. From 1982 until 1985, he worked as the head of the monthly periodical Yoshlik. After Uzbekistan gained independence, he worked as chairman of the Committee on International Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan and chairman of the Senate Committee on Science, Education, Culture and Sport.
Vohidov started writing poetry during his student years. His first poem was published in the Mushtum magazine when he was fourteen years old. Vohidov's first collection of poems, Tong nafasi, was published in 1961. In 1987, he published a collection of literary essays entitled Shoiru, sheʼru shuur: Adabiy esselar. Vohidov wrote three plays, namely, Oltin devor, Istanbul fojiasi, and Ikkinchi tumor. His play Oltin devor was staged in Lahore, Pakistan.

Poetry collections

The following is a list of Vohidov's books of poetry:

Tong nafasi
Qoʻshiqlarim sizga
Yurak va aql
Mening yulduzim
Nido
Lirika
Palatkada yozilgan doston
Yoshlik devoni
Charogʻbon
Quyosh maskani
Dostonlar
Muhabbat
Tirik sayyoralar
Ruhlar isyoni
Sharqiy qirgʻoq
Kelajakka maktub
Bedorlik
Hozirgi yoshlar
Saylanma
*Birinchi jild: Muhabbatnoma
*Ikkinchi jild: Sadoqatnoma
Daraxtlar suhbati
Kuy avjida uzilmasin tor
Oʻrtada begona yoʻq
Yaxshidir achchiq haqiqat
Qumursqalar jangi
Mening yulduzim
Saylanma
*Birinchi jild: Ishq savdosi
*Ikkinchi jild: Sheʼr dunyosi
*Uchinchi jild: Umrim daryosi Oʻzbegim
Orzuli dunyo
Tabassum
Yangi sheʼrlar
Zamin sayyorasi Devon: Senga baxtdan taxt tilarman
Inson
Saylanma
*Birinchi jild: Bahor tarovati
*Ikkinchi jild: Yoz harorati
*Uchinchi jild: Kuz saxovati
*''Toʻrtinchi jild: Qish halovati''

Prose

Adabiy portretlar

Shoiru, sheʼru shuur: Adabiy esselar
Iztirob
Saylanma
*Toʻrtinchi jild: Koʻngil nidosi
Soʻz latofati
Saylanma
*Beshinchi jild: Qalb sadoqati
*''Oltinchi jild: Erk saodati''

Russian translations of his poems

Many of Vohidov's poems were translated into Russian. The following is a list of his poetry books that were published in Russian:

Лирика
Стихи
Узелок на память
Восстание бессмертных Линия жизни
''В минуту песни не порвись, струна...''

Literary translations

Vohidov translated the works of many famous foreign poets, such as Alexander Blok, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lesya Ukrainka, Mikhail Svetlov, Muhammad Iqbal, Rasul Gamzatov, Sergey Yesenin, and Silva Kaputikyan into the Uzbek language. In particular, he translated Goethe's Faust into Uzbek in 1974. Especially noteworthy are his translations of Yesenin's works into Uzbek. Below is Vohidov's translation of Yesenin's farewell poem "Goodbye, my friend, goodbye" :
Vohidov's own works in Uzbek have been translated into Russian, German, French, English, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic and many other Turkic languages. The Soviet poet Robert Rozhdestvensky thought very highly of Vohidov's work.
An example of Vohidov's original work follows :

Poems set to music

Many of his poems have been turned into songs by Uzbek artists. Two of the most famous Vohidov poems that have become the lyrics to well-known Uzbek songs are "Inson" and "Oʻzbegim", both sung by Sherali Joʻrayev.

Year poem was written	Poem title	Song	Performed by	Composer
1956	Kamtarlik haqida		Yulduz Usmonova
1959	***		Nargiz
1959	***		Fahriddin Umarov
1964	***		Rustam Gʻoipov
1961	Yoshlik		Muhabbat Mehmonova	Raimonds Pauls
1967	Barcha shodlik senga boʻlsin		Shohruxxon va Nilufar Usmonova	Shohruxxon
1967	Doʻst bilan obod uying		Gulbahor Erqulova
1967	Uygʻotmagil...		Ravshan Zokirov	Ravshan Zokirov
1968	Tola soch		Bunyodbek Saidov	Alisher Shaydo
1968	Sevgi		Bobur Yusupov	Bobur Yusupov
1968	Oʻrtada begona yoʻq		Sherali Joʻrayev
1968	Oʻzbegim		Sherali Joʻrayev	Sherali Joʻrayev
1968	Oʻzbegim		Setora
1973	Inson		Ozodbek Nazarbekov, Dilafruz Rustamova, Oleg Gazmanov, Omirkul Ayniyazov, Zafar Abdualimov, Rafet El Roman, Ahmed Al Huraibi, Alessandro Safina	Nodir Umarov
1973	Inson		Sherali Joʻrayev
1976	Bir qadam		Zulayho Boyxonova
1977	Navoiy gʻazaliga muxammas		Sherali Joʻrayev
1988	Yaxshidir achchiq haqiqat		Sherali Joʻrayev
1994	Biz anglamagan jahon ekan ishq		Abzal Husanov	Abzal Husanov
1998	***		Ziyoda Qobilova

Legacy

Vohidov is one of the most beloved poets among Uzbeks. Many places and institutions in Uzbekistan are named after him. In 2018, a boarding school bearing his name was established in the city of Margilan. The following year the Erkin Vohidov museum opened its doors in Margilan.
Several books have been written on the life and works of Vohidov, including Erkin Vohidov saboqlari, To quyosh sochgayki nur, Soʻz sehri, Oʻzbegimning Erkin oʻzbegi.