14 Facts About Sharof Rashidov

Sharof Rashidov's father, Rashid Khalilov, was a farmer who joined the Qizil karvon kolkhoz, and his mother Kuysinoy was a housewife.

Sharof Rashidov then graduated from the philological faculty of Samarkand State University in 1941, but later that year he was deployed to the Eastern Front as a junior lieutenant.

Sharof Rashidov saw combat in the Battle of Moscow and was awarded two Order of the Red Star before being demobilized in 1943 after being severely wounded in the war.

Sharof Rashidov was a student of the All-Union Party School under the Central Committee of the Party, graduating in absentia in 1948.

Sharof Rashidov served as a delegate to the 19th to 24th Congresses of the Communist party.

Sharof Rashidov continued to rise in power, becoming a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist party in 1956.

Sharof Rashidov had strong support from Brezhnev, who in turn allocated resources to projects industrializing the Uzbek SSR and protected him from investigation.

People who expressed disagreement with Sharof Rashidov faced severe retaliation, as Sharof Rashidov maintained a network of informers using a "divide and conquer" method to ensure loyalty to him from his associates.

Sharof Rashidov's opponents likened him to a Khan of the previous century for the amount of control he exercised over the republic.

In 1957 Sharof Rashidov accompanied Kliment Voroshilov on a diplomatic trip to visit Indonesia, Burma, China, and Vietnam, where he met with leaders of anti-colonial movements.

The number of research institutes in Uzbekistan under Sharof Rashidov's leadership increased from 64 in 1960 to 100 in the early 1980s.

Sharof Rashidov initiated the first Institute of Archaeology in Central Asia, which opened in 1970 in Samarkand.

In total, Sharof Rashidov put at least fourteen of his relatives in important positions in the government of the Uzbek SSR, although the exact number of relatives throughout the government remains unclear.

Sharof Rashidov died on 31 October 1983 while visiting the Karakalpak ASSR.