Tajikistan – The Poet

Tajikistan 1 Somani Banknote – Face and Back
Tajikistan 1 Somani Banknote front, featuring portrait of Mirzo Tursunzoda, National Poet of Tajikistan

Mirzo Tursunzoda, National Poet of Tajikistan.  He won the Lennin prize for his 1956 poem, “The Voice of Asia.”

A representation of the Earth with the location of Tajikistan is illustrated in the center of this 1999 banknote.  Beneath is a silhouette of the map of Tajikistan.

My Day and Age, Selected Poems Tajikistan cover
Foreward page My Day and Age, Selected Poems Tajikistan cover

Postscript:  Would you believe I wracked the internet looking for poetry by Mirzo Tursunzoda, and found nothing?  But then I found a 1st edition book of poems, which I, of course, immediately obtained.  This makes it my privilege to, perhaps,  introduce some readers to the Poet of Takjikistan!

I will reproduce excerpts below.

Tajikistan is the only Persian speaking state from the former Soviet Union.

Tajikistan 1 Somani Banknote back, featuring The National Bank of Tajikistan

The National Bank of Tajikistan is featured on the reverse of this banknote.

closeup detail of Tajikistan 1 Somani Banknote back, featuring The National Bank of Tajikistan

Detail of the National bank of Tajikistan

A fuller biographical sketch of the beloved poet can be found here.