Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva

Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva
Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva
Нурхон Йўлдошхўжаева
Born1913
Margilan, Russian Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan)
Died1 July 1929 (aged 15-16)
Margilan, Uzbek SSR, USSR
Cause of deathStabbed in an honor killing
MonumentsStatue dedicated in 1960s but removed shortly after Uzbekistan gained independence
OccupationsDancer, actress
Known forRemoving veil in public

Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva (Uzbek: Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva, Нурхон Йўлдошхўжаева; c. 1913– 1 July 1929) was one of the first Uzbek actresses and one of the first Uzbek women to dance onstage without a paranja. A rising star in Uzbek theater, her career was cut short in 1929 by an honor killing, and she became a symbol of women’s liberation and resistance to feudalism.