Fayzulla Xo'jayev was born in Bukhara in 1896 into a wealthy merchant family. He studied in Moscow as a teenager and came home committed to reform, becoming a leading figure among the Young Bukharans and using his family's money to fund schools and political work. After the Emirate fell in 1920 he headed the government of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic, and from 1925 to 1937 chaired the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR. He was arrested in 1937, tried in the Moscow show trial of 1938, and executed.
Key achievements
Led the Young Bukharans and helped bring down the Emirate of Bukhara in 1920
Headed the government of the Uzbek SSR for twelve years, from 1925 to 1937
Funded new-method schools and reformist publishing from his family's fortune
