PEOPLE

Chinghiz Aitmatov

Chyngyz Torekulovich Aitmatov (1928–2008) was a Soviet and Kyrgyz writer who wrote in both Kyrgyz and Russian. He was honored as the People’s Writer of the Kyrgyz SSR in 1974, awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor in 1978, and later received the title Hero of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Biography

Childhood
Chyngyz Torekulovich Aitmatov was born on December 12, 1928, in the village of Sheker, located in today’s Kara-Buura District of Talas Region in the Kyrgyz Republic, into a family of a government employee. At that time, Sheker village was part of the Talas Canton of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) of the USSR.

His grandfather, Aitmat, was the son of a wealthy man from the Kyrgyz Kytai tribe.

His father, Törokul Aitmatov, initially served from 1927 to 1932 as the First Secretary of the Bolshevik Party in the Jalal-Abad Canton, and later became Secretary of the Kyrgyz Regional Committee. In 1937, Törokul was repressed during Stalin’s purges and, in 1938, was unjustly executed as a so-called “Pan-Turkist.” He was a respected and prominent figure among the people.

His mother, Nagima Khamzeevna Aitmatova, was of Tatar origin. Chyngyz’s maternal grandfather, Khamza, was a wealthy and respected Tatar merchant from Karakol. To this day, Khamza’s two-story house is preserved in the city of Karakol. Nagima was an actress in the local theater. She was an educated, wise woman who was well known and respected by the community.

In 1942, due to the consequences of World War II, Chyngyz Aitmatov had to temporarily leave school. At that time, he was only 14 years old. Because of his literacy, the people of Sheker elected him as the secretary of the village council. At that time, among the youth, only a few boys and girls could read and write in Cyrillic (most others were familiar with Arabic or Latin scripts used in Kyrgyz writing earlier).

Young Chyngyz faced many hardships. However, he endured them all with patience and resilience.

During the same years of the war, he worked as a district tax collector, collecting taxes from the villagers. However, during the war, collecting taxes was not an easy task for him. After a year, in August 1944, he voluntarily left this job and became the accountant of a tractor brigade.

In 1946, after completing the eighth grade, Chyngyz Aitmatov enrolled in the zooveterinary technical school in Zhambul.

Kyrgyzstan issued postal stamps dedicated to Chyngyz Aitmatov, including stamps from 2009. Additionally, in 2007, Kyrgyzstan released stamps featuring prominent figures such as Aitmatov, Chokmorov, Azikbaev, Sultanov, and Jakypov. These stamps celebrated the contributions and legacies of these notable individuals in the country’s history.

Mature Age. Soviet Era
After graduating with honors from the technical school in 1948, Chyngyz Aitmatov enrolled in the Kyrgyz Agricultural Institute. He also graduated with distinction in 1953.

From 1959 to 1965, Chyngyz Aitmatov served as the chief editor of the Russian-language Literaturny Kyrgyzstan magazine. He also worked as a correspondent for the Pravda newspaper.

From 1988 to 1990, Chyngyz Aitmatov served as the chief editor of the Inostrannaya Literatura (Foreign Literature) magazine, which was published in Moscow.
Chinghiz Aitmatov’s works have been translated into numerous languages and are internationally recognized. Among his most famous works is the novella Jamilya. Below are some of his books published in Kyrgyz and Russian:

Books Published in Kyrgyz:

  1. Obon: Novella and Short Stories (1959)
  2. The First Teacher: Novella (1953)
  3. The Way of the Samanchy: Novels and Short Stories (1963)
  4. Inheritance from Father: Short Stories (1970)
  5. Jamilya: Novella (1977)
  6. The Final Judgment: Novel (1988)

Books Published in Russian:

  1. Face to Face: A Collection of Short Stories (1958)
  2. Jamilya: Novella (1959)
  3. Mother’s Field: Novels and Short Stories (1964)
  4. Farewell, Gulsary!: Novels and Short Stories (1967)
  5. The Scaffold: Novel (1987)

Aitmatov’s books are a treasure of Kyrgyz literature, having been published in many languages and awarded numerous prestigious literary prizes worldwide.