PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC (1950 - 1959). SHARAF RASHIDOV AS CHAIRMAN OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE REPUBLIC
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE WRITERS' UNION
From 1949 to 1950 Sharaf Rashidov served as Chairman of the Board of the Union of Writers of Uzbekistan. His family is sure: "Despite the bright political career, he was a writer by vocation." But as he grew and developed as a journalist and writer, he simultaneously grew and developed as a politician. This unity was conditioned by Rashidov's personality, rooted in its very depths. He was a true patriot of Uzbekistan – he never lost faith in his homeland, in its great future.
OVER THE FORTY YEARS OF HIS LITERARY ACTIVITY, SHARAF RASHIDOV WROTE DOZENS OF POEMS AND SHORT STORIES, LITERARY CRITICAL AND JOURNALISTIC ARTICLES, ARTISTIC ESSAYS AND MAJOR PROSE WORKS. SHARAF RASHIDOV'S BOOKS IN RUSSIAN AND UZBEK WERE PUBLISHED IN MILLIONS OF COPIES.
His literary success did not go unnoticed: in 1951, for his contribution to the development of Uzbek Soviet literature and art, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
«…THE TRUTH OF APPEARANCES REVEALS ITSELF TO THE ONE WHO LOOKS; THE TRUTH OF ESSENCE — TO THE ONE WHO THINKS AND SEARCHES LONG. HE WHO SAYS THAT RIVERS ARE BORN IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FROM SPRINGS FORGETS THAT THEIR WATERS COME FROM OCEANS AND SEAS. HE WHO SAYS THAT RIVERS ARE BORN IN THE SEAS AND OCEANS FORGETS THAT THEIR WATERS COME DOWN FROM MOUNTAINS AND SPRINGS. AND HE WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE FOUND BOTH THE BEGINNING AND THE END BY GRASPING BUT ONE LINK OF A CLOSED CHAIN — HE IS EITHER MISTAKEN, OR IGNORANT, OR A LIAR.”
In this passage, the prologue to The Kashmiri Song, one of Sharaf Rashidov’s most widely circulated novellas, later biographers would come to see a foreshadowing. It was as if he already knew that many episodes of his life would be interpreted from different angles — especially his appointments to leading posts in Uzbekistan.
CHAIRMAN OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC
After working as chairman of the Board of the Union of Writers of Uzbekistan for a little more than a year, in the summer of 1950 Sharaf Rashidov was elected chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR. It was the third most important position in the party and state hierarchy after the first Secretary of the CP Central Committee and Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Different sources offer different causal relationships of that time. Some say that the appointment of Sharaf Rashidov was associated with changes in the high authorities – Stalin decided to completely change the republican leadership, and Sharaf Rashidov, better than other public figures in the party, fit the position of the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic.
According to another version, the appointment of Sharaf Rashidov as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic was a logical continuation of his party career and the result of relationships with Usman Yusupov, who at that time still held the post of first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan. It was Usman Yusupov who at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CP of Uzbekistan made a proposal to elect Rashidov as a member of the Bureau of the Central Committee, and then recommended him as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO SAY CONFIDENTLY WHICH OF THESE VERSIONS IS CLOSEST TO THE TRUTH – THEY ARE ALL BASED ON THE RECOLLECTIONS OF POLITICIANS AND PUBLIC FIGURES RECORDED FROM THEIR WORDS IN LOBBIES. ANYWAY, SHARAF RASHIDOV'S APPOINTMENT IN 1950 AS CHAIRMAN OF THE PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE REPUBLIC OPENED A NEW STAGE IN HIS LIFE.
