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Oral History Interview with Damirzhan and Aliakbar Azimov

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Damirzhan and his son Aliakbar discuss their family, especially regarding their Dungan ancestors' migration from China to escape persecution; Damirzhan's memories of living under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union); and the cultural shifts they both observed following the establishment of the nation of Kazakhstan. They also speak at length about their family's immigration to the United States; settling in Brooklyn; and opening their Dungan cuisine-centered restaurant, Lagman House, in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn. Damirzhan's answers to interview questions were translated by Aliakbar. Interview conducted by Svetlana Kitto.

Biographical / Historical

Damirzhan Azimov was born in 1974 near Taraz in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (now Kazakhstan). He was a farmer before immigrating to the United States in 2011 with his son, Aliakbar, and the rest of their family. They settled in Brooklyn and he worked as a truck and paratransit driver before opening the Dungan cuisine-centered restaurant, Lagman House, in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Aliakbar Azimov was born in 1998 in Taraz, Kazakhstan. He immigrated to the United States in 2011 with his father, Damirzhan, and the rest of their family. He worked as a manager at his family's Dungan cuisine-centered restaurant, Lagman House, in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn while attending Stoney Brook University in Brookhaven, Long Island.

Conditions Governing Access

This interview can be accessed onsite at the Center for Brooklyn History's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.

Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201