Shoista Mullojonova, born Shushana Rubinovna Mullodzhanova, was a renowned Bukharian Jewish Shashmaqam singer.
18 Facts About Shoista Mullojonova
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Shoista Mullojonova was born in Dushanbe, Tajik ASSR to a religious Bukharian Jewish family.
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Shoista Mullojonova's family was full of entertainers.
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In 1924, her parents and older siblings moved from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan, where Shoista was born a year later.
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Shoista Mullojonova's mother was a singer and her whole family was into music and acting.
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Shoista Mullojonova graduated from the Stalinabad Women's Pedagogical School in 1943 and studied at the Moscow Conservatory from 1947 to 1953.
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Shoista Mullojonova had her debut at age 8 when she sang on Dushanbe radio.
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Shoista Mullojonova earned the title, Merited Artist of Tajikistan, at the age of 20.
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Shoista Mullojonova was named the "People's Artist of the Tajik SSR", in 1957 and Merited Artist of the USSR.
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Shoista Mullojonova sang music of all other Soviet republics and of Eastern people.
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Shoista Mullojonova always preferred the music of her Eastern and Tajik people.
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Shoista Mullojonova sang in Central Asia and all over the former Soviet Union for 50 years.
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Shoista Mullojonova was married to Efrem Haritonovich Benyaev from 1946 until his death in 1999.
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In September 2005, in Forest Hills High School, Shoista Mullojonova sang for an audience who all came to celebrate her 80th birthday, including then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Governor George Pataki, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, and Boris Kandov, President of the Bukharian Jewish Congress of USA and Canada.
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Boris Kandov published a biography about Shoista Mullojonova, entitled "Born to Sing", written by musicologist and author Rafael Nektalov, as well as making a documentary about the legendary singer.
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In March 2008, Shoista Mullojonova performed at the Golden Ilyas Awards Ceremony singing "Ey Dukhtari Nozanini Qadras" and received an award.
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On June 26,2010, Shoista Mullojonova died after suffering a heart attack in Forest Hills, New York, three months before her 85th birthday.
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Shoista Mullojonova's nephew, Yudik Mullodzhanov, was a singer, and her niece, Rosa Mullodzhanova, is known as an "Honored Artist of Tajikistan".