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Chinghiz Aitmatov
Chyngyz Aitmatov (Kyrgyz: ذ§ر‹ز£ذ³ر‹ذ· ذگذ¹ر‚ذ¼ذ°ر‚ذ¾ذ², أ‡ؤ±أ±ؤںؤ±z Aytmatov, چىع*عىز ايتماتوغ‹ [tتƒة¯إ‹ثˆتپة¯s ة‘jtثˆmة‘tة™f]; Russian: ذ§ذ¸ذ½ذ³ذ¸جپذ· ذ¢ذ¾ر€ذµذ؛رƒجپذ»ذ¾ذ²ذ¸ر‡ ذگذ¹ر‚ذ¼ذ°جپر‚ذ¾ذ², Chingiz Torekulovich Aytmatov) (12 December 1928 – 10 June 2008) was a Soviet and Kyrgyz author who wrote in both Russian and Kyrgyz. He is the best known figure in Kyrgyzstan's literature.

Chinghiz Aitmatov

Aitmatov in 2003
Born 12 December 1928
Sheker village, Kirghiz ASSR, Soviet Union
Died 10 June 2008 (aged*79)
Nuremberg, Germany[1]
Genre worldlife Fiction
Notable works Jamila
Life Edit

He was born to a Kyrgyz father and Tatar mother. Aitmatov's parents were civil servants in Sheker. In 1937 his father was charged with "bourgeois nationalism" in Moscow, arrested and executed in 1938.[1]

Aitmatov lived at a time when Kyrgyzstan was being transformed from one of the most remote lands of the Russian Empire to a republic of the USSR. The future author studied at a Soviet school in Sheker. He also worked from an early age. At fourteen he was an assistant to the Secretary at the Village Soviet. He later held jobs as a tax collector, a loader, an engineer's assistant and continued with many other types of work.

In 1946 he began studying at the Animal Husbandry Division of the Kirghiz Agricultural Institute in Frunze, but later switched to literary studies at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow, where he lived from 1956 to 1958. For the next eight years he worked for Pravda. His first two publications appeared in 1952 in Russian: "The Newspaper Boy Dziuio" and "ذگرˆر‹ذ¼." His first work published in Kyrgyz was "ذگذ؛ ذ–ذ°ذ°ذ½" (White rain, 1954), and his well-known work "Jamila" (Jamila) appeared in 1958. In 1961 he was a member of the jury at the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival.[2] In 1971 he was a member of the jury at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.[3]

1980 saw his first novel The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years; his next significant novel, The Scaffold was published in 1988. The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years and other writings were translated into several languages. In 1994 he was a member of the jury at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.[4] In 2002 he was the President of the Jury at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival.[5]

Aitmatov suffered kidney failure, and on 16 May 2008 was admitted to a hospital in Nuremberg, Germany, where he died of pneumonia on 10 June 2008 at the age of 79.[1] After his death, Aitmatov was flown to Kyrgyzstan, where there were numerous ceremonies before he was buried in Ata Beyit cemetery, which he helped found[6] and where his father most likely is buried,[7] in Chong-Tash village, Alamüdün district, Chüy oblast, Kyrgyzstan.

His obituary in The New York Times characterized him as "a Communist writer whose novels and plays before the collapse of the Soviet Union gave a voice to the people of the remote Soviet republic of Kyrgyz" and adds that he "later became a diplomat and a friend and adviser to the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev."[8]

Work Edit


Aitmatov in 2007
Chinghiz Aitmatov belonged to the post-war generation of writers. His output before Jamila [9] was not significant, a few short stories and a short novel called Face to Face. But it was Jamila that came to prove the author's work.[9] Seen through he eyes of an adolescent boy, it tells of how Jamila, a village girl, separated from her soldier husband by the war, falls in love with a disabled soldier staying in their village as they all work to bring in and transport the grain crop. Aitmatov's representative works also include the short novels Farewell, Gulsary!,[10] The novel was also translated into Welsh by academic and translator W. Gareth Jones. "Farwel Gwlsari (ذںر€ذ¾ر‰ذ°ذ¹, ذ“رƒذ»رŒرپذ°ر€ر‹", 1966) gan Tshingiz Aitmatof", (ذ§ذ¸ذ½ذ³ذ¸ذ· ذ¢ذ¾ر€ذµذ؛رƒذ»ذ¾ذ²ذ¸ر‡ ذگذ¹ر‚ذ¼ذ°ر‚ذ¾ذ²). Llyfrau'r Dryw, 1971[11][better*source*needed] The White Ship, The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years,[12] and The Scaffold.

Aitmatov was honoured in 1963 with the Lenin Prize for Tales of the Mountains and Steppes (a compilation including "Jamila", "First Teacher" and "Farewell Gulsary") and was later awarded a State prize for Farewell, Gulsary!.[10] Aitmatov's art was glorified by admirers.[13] Even critics of Aitmatov mentioned the high quality of his novels.[14]

Aitmatov's work has some elements that are unique specifically to his creative process. His work drew on folklore, not in the ancient sense of it; rather, he tried to recreate and synthesize oral tales in the context of contemporary life. This is prevalent in his work; in nearly every story he refers to a myth, a legend, or a folktale.[1] In The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years, a poetic legend about a young captive turned into a mankurt serves as a tragic allegory and becomes a significant symbolic expression of the philosophy of the novel.

A second aspect of Aitmatov's writing is his ultimate closeness to our "little brothers" the animals, for their and our lives are intimately and inseparably connected. The two central characters of Farewell, Gulsary! are a man and his stallion. A camel plays a prominent role in The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years; one of the key turns of the novel which decides the fate of the main character is narrated through the story of the camel's rut and riot. The Scaffold starts off and finishes with the story of a wolf pack and the great wolf-mother Akbara and her cub; human lives enter the narrative but interweave with the lives of the wolves. Some of his stories were filmed, like The First Teacher in 1965 and "Red Scarf" (1970) as The Girl with the Red Scarf (1978).

As many educated Kyrgyzs, Aitmatov was fluent in both Kyrgyz and Russian. As he explained in one of his interviews, Russian was as much of a native language for him as Kyrgyz. Most of his early works he wrote in Kyrgyz; some of these he later translated into Russian himself, while others were translated into Russian by other translators. Since 1966, he was writing in Russian.[15]

Diplomatic career Edit

In addition to his literary work, Chinghiz Aitmatov was first the ambassador for the Soviet Union and later for Kyrgyzstan, to the European Union, NATO, UNESCO and the Benelux countries.[1]

Major works Edit


Grave of Aitmatov near Bishkek
(Russian titles in parentheses)

A Difficult Passage ("ذ¢ر€رƒذ´ذ½ذ°رڈ ذ؟ذµر€ذµذ؟ر€ذ°ذ²ذ°", 1956)
Face to Face ("ذ›ذ¸ر†ذ¾ذ¼ ذ؛ ذ»ذ¸ر†رƒ", 1957)
Jamila[9] ("ذ”ذ¶ذ°ذ¼ذ¸ذ»رڈ", 1958)
Jamila, Telegram Books (January 1, 2008). ISBN*978-1-84659-032-0
The First Teacher ("ذںذµر€ذ²ر‹ذ¹ رƒر‡ذ¸ر‚ذµذ»رŒ", 1962)
Tales of the Mountains and Steppes ("ذںذ¾ذ²ذµرپر‚ذ¸ ذ³ذ¾ر€ ذ¸ رپر‚ذµذ؟ذµذ¹", 1963)
Firebird Pubns; Second Printing edition (June 1973). ISBN*978-0-8285-0937-4
Farewell, Gulsary![10] ("ذںر€ذ¾ر‰ذ°ذ¹, ذ“رƒذ»رŒرپذ°ر€ر‹", 1966)
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (June 29, 1970). ISBN*978-0-340-12864-0
The White Steamboat ("ذ‘ذµذ»ر‹ذ¹ ذ؟ذ°ر€ذ¾ر…ذ¾ذ´", 1970)
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (August 14, 1972). ISBN*978-0-340-15996-5
The Ascent of Mt. Fuji ("ذ’ذ¾رپر…ذ¾ذ¶ذ´ذµذ½ذ¸ذµ ذ½ذ° ذ¤رƒذ´ذ·ذ¸رڈذ¼رƒ", 1973)
Noonday Press (June 1975). ISBN*978-0-374-51215-6
Spotted Dog Running On Seashore ("ذںذµذ³ذ¸ذ¹ ذ؟ذµرپ, ذ±ذµذ³رƒر‰ذ¸ذ¹ ذ؛ر€ذ°ذµذ¼ ذ¼ذ¾ر€رڈ", 1977)
Cranes Fly Early (ذ*ذ°ذ½ذ½ذ¸ذµ ذ¶رƒر€ذ°ذ²ذ»ذ¸, 1979)
Imported Pubn (June 1983). ISBN*978-0-8285-2639-5
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years ("ذک ذ´ذ¾ذ»رŒرˆذµ ذ²ذµذ؛ذ° ذ´ذ»ذ¸ر‚رپرڈ ذ´ذµذ½رŒ", 1980)
Indiana University Press (February 1, 1988). ISBN*978-0-253-20482-0
The Scaffold ("ذںذ»ذ°ر…ذ°", 1986)
The Place of the Skull, Grove Press; 1st edition (March 1989). ISBN*978-0-8021-1000-8
The place of the skull: Novel, International Academy of Sciences, Industry, Education & Arts (USA) (2000). ISBN*978-5-7261-0062-3
The time to speak out (Library of Russian and Soviet literary journalism), Progress Publishers (1988). ISBN*978-5-01-000495-8
Time to Speak, International Publishers (May 1989). ISBN*978-0-7178-0669-0
Cassandra's Brand ("ذ¢ذ°ذ²ر€ذ¾ ذڑذ°رپرپذ°ذ½ذ´ر€ر‹", 1996)
When The Mountains Fall ("ذڑذ¾ذ³ذ´ذ° ذ³ذ¾ر€ر‹ ذ؟ذ°ذ´ذ°رژر‚", 2006)
Ode to the Grand Spirit: A Dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda, I.B Tauris (April 30, 2009). ISBN*978-1845119874
English-language collections and interviews

Short Novels, Progress Publishers (1964).
Mother Earth and Other Stories, Faber and Faber (January 8, 1990). ISBN*978-0-571-15237-7