ABAY KUNANBAYEV
Abay Kunanbay was born on 22 August 1845 in the Kaskabulak plateau of the Shingis mountain in the former Karkaraly province of Kazakhstan (now Karavil village of Abay district of Semey province). His real name was Ibrâhim, and he was called Abay due to the custom of abbreviating names common among Kazakhs. He belonged to the Tobikti branch of the Argin tribe of the Middle Jüz Kazakhs. His father Kunanbay Öskenbayev was a wealthy and influential bey. Abay began his primary education in his village, and at the age of ten he studied at a madrasah in the city of Semey, where, in addition to religious sciences, he studied modern sciences such as literature, history, mathematics, geography. At the age of forty, Abay devoted himself to literature, and in his poem "Jaz" (Summer), written in 1886, he used his own name for the first time. With the poems he wrote after this date, he tried to awaken and advance the Kazakh people.
Abay died in Semey on 6 July 1904, forty days after the death of his son Magaviya. His body was buried next to the grave of his brother Ospan in the Jidebay barracks on the Shingis mountain.
Abay Kunanbay, who is considered the founder of Kazakh written literature, the first examples of which began to appear in the XIX century, is the most important representative of modern Kazakh literature. The most important work written about his life is Mukhtar Avezov's four-volume biographical novel Abay Joli.
ABISH KAKYLBAYEV
Abish Kekilbayev was born on 6 December 1939 in Myrzayir sub-district of Ondi village of Mangıstav district of Mangıstav province of Kazakhstan. Abish Kekilbayev, who was the only son of a family of four children and lost his father at a very young age, grew up and became an important figure, his mother Aysavle, his older sisters and especially the people of the village where he was born made a great contribution.
Abish Kekilbayev's interest in reading, writing, books in general, paper and pen began at a very young age. As a child of three or four years old, he liked to leaf through the books and notebooks of his older sisters, and at the age of five he learned to read and write very well. Abish Kekilbayev studied at the secondary school in Ondi in 1948-54, and in 1955-57 he completed his high school education in Ushtagan. In 1957 he enrolled in the Department of Kazakh Language and Literature, Faculty of Philology, Kazakh State University.
A. Kekilbayev's first book of poems "Altın ġuvaq" (Golden Light) was published in 1962. "Qurdas qızğa" (To the girl who is my peer), "Qız ani" (Song of the Girl), "Terbegeniñ janarımnıñ oy bağın" (Thought to the garden of my eyes), "Bozbalanıñ jarq jurq etip janarı" (Luminous young eyes), "Savleşimniñ bar beynesin bilemin" (I know the figure of my lover), "Kün qayda bire quğan köbelekti? " (Those were the days when we were chasing butterflies), "Aqjayıq" (White Churn), "ġağala" (Seagull), "Teñiz jağasındağı oy" (My thoughts on the sea shore), "Äke" (Father), "Ava" (Air), "Bağban" (Gardener), "Qıstağı oy" (Winter thoughts).
A. Kekilbayev served as Deputy Minister of Culture of the Kazakh SSR in 1984-86, Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Kazakh SSR in 1986-88, and in 1990 as a Departmental Advisor to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. In addition to these duties, A. Kekilbayev, who was the Chairman of the Committee on Culture, Language and International Relations of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1991, was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Sovereign Kazakhstan", the central organ of the state in 1992-93.
AHMET BAYTURSINULI
He was born in Sarytubbek village of Torgay region of Kazakhstan. He belongs to the Argun tribe of the Middle Juz of the Kazakhs. His father sent Ahmet to a two-grade Russian-Kazakh school in Torgay city. However, after his father was sent into exile, his mother and uncle educated him. Ahmet entered the Russian-Cossack school in 1886. In 1891 he entered the teacher's school in Orenburg. In 1895 he started teaching. During this time he also studied Russian. He teaches in schools in different regions of Kazakhstan. In 1896, Baytursınuly met Alektorov, a Chuvash Turk who was working on Kazakh history, ethnography, folklore and language. During this meeting, Ahmet Baytursınulı learnt from Alektorov that the life of the Kazakhs outside Kazakhstan and the policy of expansion and exploitation carried out on the Kazakh country, as well as the works of the Russian scholar Ilminsky were not aimed at educating the Kazakhs, but were missionary activities. After this meeting, Ahmet's world of thought in the fields of politics, education, science and culture changed, and he began to closely follow and defend the Usul-i Jadid education system, the foundations of which were laid by Ismail Gaspıralı and spread throughout Turkestan.
In addition to researching the historical development of Kazakh language and literature, he also seeks ways to create modern Kazakh literature. He compiles, analyses and researches the folklore materials of the Kazakh people. He writes reviews, articles and poems about the social and cultural life of Kazakh society. He makes many translations from Russian classics. Baytursinuly played a major role in the establishment and development of Kazakh press and publishing life. His articles were published in Ayqap and Shora magazines from 1911. In 1913, he launched the Kazakh newspaper with Kazakh youth.
IBIRAY ALTINSARIN
Ibiray Altinsaryn was a member of the Kipchak tribe of the Middle Juz of the Kazakh people and was born on 20 October 1841 in the Amankaragay district of the former Torghay city, now Kostanay city, Zatobol district. Ibiray Altynsaryn's father was Altynsary from the Kipchak tribe of the Middle Juz, his mother was Ayman, daughter of Shegen bey from the Argin tribe. I. Altinsarin took lessons from various mullahs and teachers with the efforts of his grandfather and did not stop his education until the age of 9. At the age of 9 he learnt Russian, Tatar, Arabic and Persian languages. After graduating from school on 31 August 1857, I. Altinsarin worked for three years (1857-1859) as an interpreter for his grandfather Balgoja Bey, who was appointed to the Orenburg Border Commission. In 1859 Balgoja Bey asked his friend V. V. Grigoryev to take his grandson I. Altinsarin as an interpreter. I. Altinsarin began to work as an interpreter for V. V. Grigoryev and had the opportunity to use his rich library. I. Altınsarın read the classics of Russian literature starting from Pushkin to Tolstoy and the works of writers such as Shakespeare, Goethe and Bayron among the classics of Western literature. In the same period, he also became acquainted with Eastern literature. I. Altinsarin, who had the opportunity to research his own history through this library, researched Kazakh history, language, literature and folk culture and collected new materials in this direction.
I. Altinsarin also attached great importance to the compilation and transcription of oral literature such as poems, stories, parables, epics and made great efforts in this direction. He died on 17 July 1889 at noon, three months and three days before his 48th birthday. He was buried next to his father's grave near the Tobyl River, not far from his home. In addition to his works "Kyrgyzkaya Hrestomatiya", "Tandamali Shığarmalar", there are also poems "Bald Balalar, Okılık!" and "Öner Bilim Bar Jurttar". The importance of his poems was written only to show the benefits of education, reading and knowledge.
İLYAS ESENBERLİN
Ilyas Esenberlin was born in Atbasar, Akmola region (now Astana). In 1940 he graduated from the Kazakh State Mountain-Mining Institute. He worked as an engineer in the city of Jezkazgan. Participated in the Second World War. In 1947-1967 he was the director of the Kazakh State Philharmonic. In 1953-1954 he worked as chief inspector in the Ministry of Geology of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 1954-1955 he served as the head of the Bersügir Mining Enterprise, in 1955-1957 as the chief editor of the Kazakh State Literary Publishing House. In 1958-1967 he served as the chief editor of the "Kazakh film" film studio, in 1967-1971 as the director of the "Jazuvshi" publishing house, in 1971-1975 as the 2nd secretary of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan.
The writer began to write works since 1940. He created productive works in the fields of prose, poetry and drama. He first became known for his poems. In 1945, his poems "Sultan", "Aysha" were published. Later, his poetry book "Adamgerşilik Tuvrali Jır" (1949), "Bolshevik Tuvrali Poema" (1957), "Birjan Sal Tragedy" (1959) epics were published. Since the 1960s, he turned to prose. His long stories "Özen Jağasında" (1960), "Tolkıydı Esil" (1965), "Pesnya o çeloveke" (Adam Tuvrali Än) written in Russian were published. "Tavdagi Tartis" (1962) is a play. This play was performed in children and youth theatres.
Since the 1960s, he began to attract attention with his novels. His novels "Aykas" (1966), "Katerli Ötkel" (1967) are works in which he describes the difficult, social and spiritual events in the formation process of Kazakh national intellectuals. Köşpendiler novel (Almas Kılış, Aykas, Kahar trilogy) was translated into Turkish in three volumes under the title Nomads in commemoration of the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate.
JAMBIL JABAYEV
Jambyl Jabavev (1846-22.06.1945, Almaty) is one of the great masters of Kazakh folk poetry. He was born into a poor family of the nomadic Ekey tribe at the foot of the Jambyl mountain in Jambyl province. This intelligent child, who could not study due to the unfavourable conditions in his childhood, saw many things with his eyes and wove them into his heart, even though he was illiterate. In his long life he travelled to various places, participated in quarrels with poets and sang songs, terme, jir. His poetry fame spread all over Jetisuw and Kyrgyz country in the last century. Jambil, who has been in the art of poetry since the age of fifteen, has kept the places where he was born and lived alive with his songs, poems and jirs for many years. He has developed the art of poetry by participating in the quarrels between the villages. He received training and support from Süyin-bay, one of the most successful bards of Jetisuw, and learnt that songs, poems and folk songs are important arts to be performed. Of Jambil's quarrels, only his quarrels with Aykumis, Baqtıbay, Sari, Saribas, Dosmaganbet Shashuwbay Qulanayaq and Qulmanbet were preserved and published in various books. After defeating Qulmanbet, who was famous in the eighties of the last century, Jambil became the most famous draughtsman of his country. In his art, motifs related to the people are often found from the very first quarrels.
For his services to the art of poetry, Jambil was awarded by the state with the Lenin medal, the Enbek Qizil Tuw medal (Red Flag of Labour), "Qurmet Belgisi" (Certificate of Respect). In 1941 he was awarded the USSR State Prize.
MAGJAN JUMABAYEV
Magjan Jumabay was born in 1893 in the village of Magjan, Akmola district, Akmola province. Magjan learnt to read and write from the village mullah. His poetic talent was recognised from an early age. In 1905, his father enrolled Magjan in Kyzyljar Madrasah, where Magjan became interested in literature.
M. Jumabay read and learnt the works of Arabic and Persian poets, especially such important figures as Firdavsî, Sadi, Omar Khayyam, Navoi and Nizamî. In Ufa, he published the magazine "Sadaq" together with his teachers at the madrasah. He took Russian lessons and took Abay's poems as an example. The concept of Turkishness plays an important role in Magjan's poems. M. Jumabayev published his poem "Sholpan" in Kazan and became a star in Kazakh literature.
M. Jumabay wrote many poems reflecting national feelings, such as "Turkestan", "Alıstağı bavrıma - To my distant brother". Magjan Jumabay also has a special place in the eyes of the Turks of Turkey.
MIIRJAKIP DUVLATOV
Mirjakip Dulatuly, one of the Alash intellectuals; poet, writer, literary critic, scientist, politician, folk hero, author of the first Kazakh novel Bakitsiz Jamal. 1885-1902 He was born in Sarikopa district of Torğay, Kazakhstan. He lost his mother at the age of two and his father at the age of twelve. He received his first education at the Russian-Kazakh school opened by Ibıray Altınsarın in Torğay in the 1880s, where he learnt Kazakh and Russian and graduated in 1902. Later he was brought up by his older brother Askar. He studied at the schools of A. Bökeyhan and A. Baytursın in Ombı and Karkaralı. He reads Eastern literature and Western literature in Russian.
1907 His first poem Jastarğa "To the Young", a poem of uranic quality, is published in 1907 in the Kazakh newspaper Serke, published in St. Petersburg. 1909 Oyan Kazak! poetry book was published in Ufa in 1909. The poem "Oyan Kazak!" at the beginning of the book becomes a symbol of national awakening over time. The subject of the poems in Oyan Kazak: The politically and socially turbulent situation of the period naturally affects those who think, hear and write, and especially in literary works, the degraded state of Turkestan, like the Tanzimat and National Struggle years in Anatolia, becomes the main source of inspiration.
MUHTAR AVEZOV
Mukhtar Avezov was born on 28 September 1897 in Ayakkaragan, the eighth village of the administrative division of Shingizdag (Shynghistaw), Semey province (now East Kazakhstan province), in a moderate family. His father's name was Omerkhan. At the age of six, with the help of his grandfather Avez, he began to learn Arabic letters and memorise Abay Kunanbayev's poems. Then he went to the village school, and in 1908 he entered the madrasah in Semey, where he entered the preparatory class of the Russian school. In 1919 he graduated from the Semey Teachers' School. While here, he founded the Alash Jastari (Alash youth) Association and led the opening of various clubs. In 1922, he entered the Central Asian State University in Tashkent. He graduated from the Department of Language and Literature of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Leningrad State University in 1928. In 1928, he entered the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Central Asian State University in Tashkent as an assistant and began his master's degree, and also taught at the Kazakh Educational Institute. While studying for his master's degree, he travelled around the Kyrgyz country, researched the Manas epic and transcribed the collected fragments of the epic. In 1959 he was awarded the Lenin Prize for his novel Abay Jolı (Abay way).
As a thinker, writer and translator, Avezov was one of the leading representatives of contemporary Kazakh culture and literature with his views and works on literature, art, education and science. He is considered the first representative of both theatre and Western-style literary prose tradition in Kazakhstan. After his death, the Institute of Literature and Art of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences was named after him, and in 1963 a branch named Avezov House was opened within the institute. In addition, the Kazakh Academic Drama Theatre, some districts, villages, streets and schools in cities such as Almaty, Astana, Semey are named after M. Avezov. The 100th anniversary of Avezov's birth was celebrated worldwide in 1997 by the decision of UNESCO, and articles such as Z. Qabdolov "My Avezovim", R. Nurğaliyev "Avezov jâne Alash", J. Dâdebayev "Mukhtar Avezov", Ö. Kümisbayev "M. Avezov and the East" were written about him. Various lectures on Avezov's literary personality and his works are given in Kazakhstan universities. Avezov wrote his first work Dawil (Storm) in 1914-1915. In 1922 he wrote "Korğansızdiñ Künü" and "Eñlik-Kebe", in 1926 he wrote the play "Karagöz" and in 1927 he published his work "History of Literature". In addition to these works, one of his most important works is the novel "Abay Way".
MUHTAR MAĞAVİN
Mukhtar Magavin was born in Shubartav district of Semey city. His father was a village teacher. In 1962 he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of the Kazakh National University. In 1965 he completed his doctorate in Kazakh literature at the same university. He began writing his works in 1965. He worked as the head of the department in the newspaper "Kazakh Adebiyeti", deputy editor-in-chief of the publishing house "Jazuvshi" between 1967-1971, senior scientist at the M. Avezov Institute of Literature and Art of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1977 he became a member of the KPSS, a member of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan, chairman of the Prose Soviet of the Writers' Union. He taught Kazakh folklore and history of Kazakh literature at the Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow. In 1983-1984 he was engaged in freelance literary work, and in 1984-1986 he was the chief editor of the publishing house "Jazuvshi". His works have been published since 1959.
In the 1960s, he attracted more attention as a literary researcher. Later he turned to literary prose. His first work "Keskurum" (1964) was published in the magazine "Juldız". His stories and novels "Akşa Kar" (1969), "Balalar of an Ancestor", "Kıyandağı Kıstav" (1977), "Kök Kepter" (1979), which were written on the subjects of peaceful village and city life until the Second World War, contemporary intellectuals, the life of students and the friendship of peoples, were published. In 1972, his novel "Kök Munar" about young people was published. His famous novel "Alasapıran (Alasapıran I/1981, Alasapıran II/1983)" deals with the history of the relations between the Kazakh Army and Russia at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.
MUKAGALI MAGATAYEV
In the second half of the 20th century, Muqagali Magatayev, who made a great contribution to the development of Kazakh poetry, was born in the village of Qarasaz, Rayimbek district, Almaty province. Between 1954-1962 he worked as a correspondent for Kazakh radio, between 1962-1972 he worked for the newspapers "Sotsiyalistik Kazakhstan", "Kazakh Literature", "Mӓdeniyet cӓne turmis" (Günümüz Parasat), "Culdız" (Yıldız) and between 1972-1973 he worked as a literary advisor to the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan. "Narınkol" is his first published poem. The poet became famous with his poem "Appasionata".
In his works he expressed his love of homeland, country, people and life. Many of his poems were composed. He translated many works of Dante and Shakespeare into Kazakh. In 1999, his poetry book "Amanat" was awarded the state prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
OLCAS SULEYMANOV
Oljas Suleymanov was born in Almaty in 1936. His father, Mr Omer Bey, was a cavalry officer in the Red Army and died in a battle a few days before Olcas was born. A few years after his death, his mother Fatma Hanım married the famous Kazakh journalist Abdul Ali Bey. Abdul Ali Bey played an important role in the upbringing of Oljas Suleymanov as a social scientist, poet and writer. After completing classical Soviet primary and secondary education, Olcas entered the geological department of Kazakh State University. He first turned to literature and poetry. He attended the Moscow Institute of Literature.
His first literary works included motifs of nomadic Kazakh life, Kazakh history, oral culture. Later he turned to linguistics, anthropology and history. After Kazakhstan became an independent republic and Nur Sultan Nazarbayev became the President of Kazakhstan, he was appointed to a foreign mission and served in Rome as Kazakhstan's ambassador to Italy.
SAKEN SEYFULIN
Saken (Sadvakas) Seyfullin was born on 15 October 1894 in the First village of Nildi town of Jana-Akarka region (now Jana-Akarka district of Jezkazgan region), formerly Akmola. S. Seyfullin's father Seyfolla was from Argin tribe of Middle Juz, his mother Jamal was from Alsay tribe of Altai. S.Seyfullin received his first education from the village imam and learnt to read and write in Arabic. Thus, he had the opportunity to read Islamic parables and stories himself. sent him to Nildi so that he could go. S. Seyfullin studied at the Kazakh-Russian school in Nildi between 1905-1908. Then between 1908-1910 he continued his education at the three-year school in Akmola. On 21 August 1913, he was admitted to the Omby Teachers' College, known as the Siberian University, and won one of the scholarships awarded to two students in the region. He graduated from this school in 1916. S. Seyfullin's first book of poems "Ötken Künder" was published in 1914 by the publishing house "Matbuġat Kärimiya" in Kazan. On 9 March 1917, S. Seyfullin, who wrote the poem "Asıġıp Tez Attandıķ", came to Akmola and founded an association called "Jas Ķazaķ", helped to publish the newspaper "Tirşilik". At the same time, he taught at the three-month teachers' course in Akmola.
In 1917 he wrote the poem "Kel Jigitter". This poem is known as the first work written in Kazakh Soviet literature. In 1920, in addition to his social and political activities, S. Seyfullin worked on his literary works and became one of the most important Soviet poets. S. Seyfullin's book and anthology "Ķazaķtiñ Eski Ädebi Nusķaları" (1931) "Beyler Devri of Kazakh Literature" was completed in 1931 and published in 1932, volume 1 of "Batırlar Jırı" was published in 1931, volume 2 in 1933. His researches "Aķan Seri Aķtoķtı", "Leyli Mejnün" were published in 1932. S. Seyfullin compiled the poems of Akan Seri, Ibıray Altınsarin and Akmolla, important figures of Kazakh Turks, and prepared them for publication in 1932-1935 together with Şekerim Kudayberdioğlu's "Leyli Mejnunu". S. Seyfullin, Ä. Mametova, B. Maylin published the book "Edebiyattanuv" in 1933, and with Ö. Turmanjanov in 1934 the textbook "Edebiyattanuv" for the 5th grade.
SHOKHAN VELIKHANOV
Shokan Velihanov belongs to an aristocratic family. He is the third-generation grandson of Abulay, one of the famous khans of the Kazakh Turks. Chokan, whose real name was Muhammad Hanafiya (his mother gave him this nickname), was born in the town of Amankaray. His grandmother Ayganim, who had an influence on him in his childhood years, established strong relations with Russian officials, merchants and orientalists, and thanks to these relations, she got the local administration to build European-style buildings in the area where he lived. Ayğanım, who was open to innovative ideas, was the first person who was influential in the development of Velihanov's intellectual world. Çokan also received very good language education. He mastered Arabic and Chagatai Turkish in his childhood, and all Turkic dialects spoken in Turkestan during school. He also learnt French and German because he was very talented and curious about language.
Shokan deeply researched and often expressed the heroic epics of the Kazakh people. Edige, Er Kökşe, Orak, Mamay, Shora and other figures of the Noğay Army period, such as the valuable aspects of the jir. As for Velihanov's works on the ethnography of the Kazakh people: "Remains of Shamanism in the Kyrgyz", "About Islam in the Steppe", "About Agriculture", "Felt Tent", "About Kyrgyz-Kaysak Shrines and General Statues", "Weapons and Military Equipment of the Kyrgyz in Ancient Times", "About the Migration of the Kyrgyz". Velihanov died in April 1865.
