Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva

• Name — Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva • Native Name — Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva Нурхон Йўлдошхўжаева • Born — 1913 • Birthplace — Margilan, Russian Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan) • Died — 1 July 1929 (aged 15-16) • Place of death — Margilan, Uzbek SSR, USSR • Death Cause — Stabbed in an honor killing • Monuments — Statue dedicated in 1960s but removed shortly after Uzbekistan gained independence • Occupation — Dancer, actress • Known for — Removing veil in public

Nurkhon was born in 1913 to an Uzbek family in Margilan, in the Ferghana Valley region. Raised in a repressive and very religious environment, she began wearing the veil at a young age like other Uzbek girls of the time. However, she grew interested in theater, and in 1928 she ran away from home to join the theater troupe of Muhitdin Qoriyoqubov, which was based in Samarkand at the time. She was mentored by Usta Olim Komilov, and her colleagues there included the future People's Artist of the USSR Tamara Khanum and the future People’s Artist of Uzbekistan Gavhar Rahimova. Shortly after joining the group, on 8 March 1928, she and another dancer went onstage and publicly removed their face-veils in celebration of International Women's Day, defying the social positions that had been imposed on them. Throughout her life, she was often threatened by religious fanatics who were enraged that she defied social norms by taking off the veil and seeking an acting career.

When the dance troupe visited her hometown of Margilan in summer 1929, she decided to visit her family. She showed her aunt the dances and songs that she had learned, after which her aunt told her that her brother Salixoʻja was looking for her. He was waiting for her with a knife, and stabbed her to death as soon as she appeared. When the police came, he immediately confessed to the crime. He admitted that the murder was premeditated, at the insistence of their father Yoʻldoshxoʻja Salimxoʻjaev, the ming-boshi (a local administrator), and mullah Kamal G'iasov, who made Salixoʻja swear on the Quran to kill her. The day after her death, a massive funeral was held in the public square. Thousands of people attended the memorial, and women threw off their face-veils in front of her coffin. Her father and brother were eventually tried and executed for their role in the murder, and the ming-boshi and mullah were exiled. Her sister Begimkhan, who had joined the theater troupe with her, joined Nurkhon on their trip to Margilan. The plan was to kill her as well; however, she did not end up visiting her parents because she was sick with a fever. Begimkhan lived on to have a successful career as an actress at the opera and ballet theater named after Alisher Navoi. A poem memorializing Nurkhon was published in the Uzbek newspaper "Yosh Leninchi" (Young Leninist) on 20 November 1938.