Ari Fatakhov

He was a favorite of the entire Fatakhov family and was highly respected by relatives and comrades. His whole life involved difficulties and dangers. He went through the tough, troubled years of the Basmachi movement, repression, dispossession, a fierce war against fascism and frenzied anti-Semitism. Ari Fatakhov was the first lawyer in the Ferghana Valley from among Bukharian Jews of the 1920s. He was born in Kokand, in the family of the famous religious leader Yaguda Fatahova and Rivka, the daughter of Chaim Elikboshi - a Pentecostal from the time of the Kokand Khanate.

At 22, Ari married the 16-year-old beauty Frejo - the daughter of Ibrahimboi - one of the richest people in the Ferghana Valley.

In 1927, after several years of work at the cotton mill, Ari, who had great intellectual abilities, was sent to study at the Tashkent Higher Law School. Having successfully graduated from it, already in 1929 he received an appointment to work in the Kokand bar association, where he continuously worked as a lawyer until his retirement in 1970.That is, for more than 40 years. Our father was a great storyteller. In the evenings, upon his return from the synagogue, he retold us passages from the Torah, which we enthusiastically listened to. Arriving in Israel, we, the children of Ari Fatahov, realized that these were not fairy tales, but a rich interesting history of the Jewish people.

His fundamental knowledge of the current criminal and procedural legislation and no less thorough life knowledge of “human souls” made him the most famous lawyer in the Ferghana Valley. People came to him with firm conviction that he, and only he would be able to carry out qualified protection of their near and dear ones, and fully trusted him with their own destinies. And this was justified, since he had won most of his cases, even the completely hopeless ones.

Undoubtedly, his “easy” and successful march along the lawyer's path was promoted by his excellent education in a noble religious family, his deep knowledge of the Torah, and he was also greatly enriched by his excellent knowledge of Arabic, Uzbek, Tajik, Russian and Hebrew. The principle of his life was the instructions of the Holy Torah: turn away from evil and do good, and the motto is honesty, conscientiousness, and accuracy.

Ari Yagudaevich Fatakhov appreciated and respected people, was a man of a beautiful soul, infinitely kind and extremely decent. He raised five worthy children, all of them received higher education and a good upbringing in the spirit of Jewish customs and traditions.