Abai (Ibrahim) Kunanbayev(July 29 (August 10, 1845 – June 23 (July 6, 1904)) – Kazakh poet, the founder of the written literature of the Kazakhs, a classic of world literature, translator, composer, thinker, public figure, enlightener.
Biography
On July 29 (on new style – August 10), 1845, the tribe leader, elder sultan of Karkaraly county and major bai Kunanbay Oskenbayev’s son Ibrahim (Ibrahim is a name of Arab origin, the form the Biblical prophet Abraham’s name) was born in the Shyngyz foothills, near Semipalatinsk West Siberian Governor General (now Abai district of East Kazakhstan region). The grandfather of Ibrahim (later his grandmother Zere gave him the nickname Abai – «attentive», «cautious» in Kazakh language), was Oskenbai, and the great-grandfather was Yrgyzbai – noble family rulers and biys of the subgenus Tobykty, Olzhai kin of Argyn tribe, Middle Zhuz. The mother of the future poet Ulzhan originated from the Karakessek kin of the same Argyn tribe.
M.O. Auezov in his article «Абайдың өмірбаяны» («Autobiography of Abai») (1944), which is one of four autobiographies of the poet and thinker written by the writer, provides interesting biographical information about the poet’s grandmother Zere: «Kunanbai’s mother Zere was a woman of soft temper. In 1850, at 72, Oskenbai died. Zere outlived her spouseby many years. She died at 90. In the childhood of the future poet, all relatives called her, out of deep respect, the «old grandmother» («кәрі әже»)» [1, p. 65] (translation by the author). Zere, who knew many legends and tales of the Kazakh people, made a great contribution to the spiritual education of her grandson. Grateful descendants in 2016 erected a monument to Zere in her native places – in Kalbatau settlement, Zharma region, East Kazakhstan region [2].
The mother of the future poet Ulzhan was the second of the four wives of Kunanbay, she originated from Karakessek clan of the same tribe. She had a sharp tongue, but in many ways she was similar to her mother-in-law with wisdom, kindness, knowledge of Kazakh folklore. In childhood, Abai listened to legends and traditions from her, and in response often recited poems to his mother and beloved grandmother, already a little deaf, right in her ears to «cure» her of deafness. The third woman who took part in the education of Abai was Aigyz, the third wife of Kunanbay, who lived in the same village with Ulzhan. According to M. Auezov, Abai, who was considered the son of two mothers, then received the nickname «Telkara» [1, p. 65].
Abai Kunanbay’s father (1804–1886) was not a simple person, with a complex character, cruel, but also generous at the same time, deeply religious, but also understanding the need for secular education. He was distinguished by eloquence, accurate expressions that were picked up by the people, he was revered among people. We will name a few facts from the life of Kunanbay, characterizing his multifaceted personality. In the late 1840s, with the permission of the Russian border outpost, he opened a Muslim school for Kazakh children, inviting Mullah Gabitkhan Gabdynazarula, in which his sons were educated. Later, Kunanbay considered it necessary to educate one of his sons from his third wife Aigyz, Khalilulla, in the Omsk Cadet Corps and the Moscow Military School. Kunanbay built his own mosque in 1849 in Karkaraly. Already at the age of 70, he accomplished a trip to Mecca for pilgrimage (1874–1875), which was almost a feat for that time. There he set up the «Tаkiya» house, for his fellow tribesmen so that they could stop at a stand, fulfilling one of the pillars of the Muslim religion [1, р. 69].
In early childhood, Abai received home schooling from the above-mentioned Mullah Gabitkhan. From the age of ten he continued his studies at the madrasah founded by Mullah Akhmet-Riza in Semipalatinsk, where he studied in depth Oriental languages (Arabic, Persian, Turkish) and literature in 1855–1859. In the madrassah, Abai stood out among the students with his abilities to study, a craving for knowledge, diligence, despite the lively nature. Possessing an excellent memory, he could verbally retell the books he had read. In addition he easily translated from Arabic into Turkish. Already then, in addition to religious literature, Abai was attracted by oriental poetry, especially the works of Navoi, Fizuli, Nizami, Sagdi and others. Note that in 1992–1993 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Abai, the madrasah was restored and reopened as a museum for visitors, where books were exhibited, according to which the future poet was trained – textbooks on geography-astronomy, language-literature, Muslim doctrine [3].
In the third year of study at the madrassah, Abai began to attend a Russian parish school in parallel, having studied for only about three months. His father Kunanbay understood the need for knowledge of the Russian language for the future head of the clan. This secular education, complementing the religious, allowed the future great poet to join the Russian culture. It was in Semipalatinsk that Abai made the first samples of verses in the spirit of oriental and Kazakh poetry: love dedications, improvisation verses, etc.
When his son was 13 years old, Kunanbay’s father recalled Abai to his native village, attracting to the decision of court cases as a biy. Kunanbay’s decision to recall his son from the city was not accidental, but was dictated by the need to prepare for himself a replacement for the post of future ruler of the clan. Of all his sons, only in Abai did father see qualities suitable for this honorable status: observation, lively mind, rhetorical inclinations, and strength of character. The teenager’s communication with experts in Kazakh customary law, centuries of established customs and traditions, and gold-speaking orators, alternating their speeches in court proceedings with proverbs and sayings, influenced his spiritual and personal growth. Abai, who was familiar with the works of Zhyrau Shortanbai Kanayuly, Dulat Babatayuly, Bukhar Kalkamanuly from childhood, drew wisdom from their Tolgau, i.e. poems of thoughts. He was particularly impressed by the work of Shortanbai Zhyrau «Zar Zaman», which criticized the colonial policy of the Russian Empire, the liquidation of the khanate in Kazakhstan. Abai personally also knew Birzhan-sal Kozhagululy, the famous akyn and composer of the Middle Zhuz, whose songs he taught his younger and beloved wife, Aigerim [1, р. 111]. Abai also spoke with other famous akyns of the Middle Zhuz – Aset, the blind woman-akyn Azhar, Kempirbay, who inspired him to create their own songs.
Already at the age of 20, Abai gained respect among his fellow tribesmen with his knowledge and wise decisions over the years for resolving inter-clan disputes. However, not all his fellow tribesmen liked Abai’s activities, his father and he had opponents who wrote complaints about him to the Russian administration. In 1872–1873 for several months Abai had to be under investigation in 12 court cases in Semipalatinsk, where he again turned to Russian language lessons at the age of 29. At this time, Abai was having a spiritual break with his father Kunanbay, whose poet could not understand the cruelty, and Kunanbay, in turn, was dissatisfied with the fair decisions of his son, who sought impartiality and ignored the narrow selfish interests of his father.
However, Abai continued to act as a biy. In 1875 he was elected the volost of the Konyr-Kokshek volost, having worked until 1878. In May 1885, Abai participated in the Extraordinary Congress of Biys under the control of Governor General V.S. Tseklinsky in a place of Karamoly on the bank of the Shar River of the Semipalatinsk region, which adopted the «Regulation of Karamola» («Semey Kazakhtary Ushin Ulmysty Isterge Karsy zarezheresin»), which includes 93 articles on the common law of Kazakhs in the conditions of the Russian Empire. The text of this historical document, which first recorded the right of the Kazakhs in writing, which the great poet accepted, was first published in the first issue of the Abai magazine in 1990 [4, р. 67]. At this congress, gathered 100 biys from 5 districts of the region elected Abai the supreme biy (tоbe bi), who had a decisive vote in the resolution of court cases.
In July 1890, in the tract Koshybek of the Semipalatinsk region, Abai was attacked for his judicial activity while traveling to a meeting of the biys council to resolve the land dispute between Mukyrskaya and Shyngyz volosts, having received serious bodily harm. The enemies of the poet could not come to terms with the authority of Abai as a bi, poet, enlightener, public figure, who had friends among the Russian revolutionary democrats and sympathized with the struggle of the Caucasian peoples against tsarism (many of the political fugitives were accepted in the village of Abai). In 1897 a gendarme led by the police chief of the city of Semipalatinsk was searched in the village of Abai in Zhidebay on denunciations of the poet’s enemies led by Orazbay, who accused him of anti-government activities and called him «troublemaker among the people», «the enemy of the white king» and others [1, p. 158]. The intriguers achieved a split in the Abai family, setting up his brother Takejan against him, they also poisoned the students of the great poet, trying to deprive him of support. Envy, intrigue, treachery of enemies negatively influenced Abai, robbed him of a lot of energy and vitality, which he could use for creativity.
After many years of self-education, already wise in life experience and in the dawn of vitality, by the age of forty he began again to literary work as a poet. However, it cannot be said that Abai did absolutely nothing for all these long years. M. Auezov in the poet’s biography notes that, being a beater, Abai wrote poems of a short genre all the time – epigrams, comic poems, dedications to Togzhan’s first sweetheart, young girls that he liked– Asiya, Rakhila, etc. Then he himself was not serious about these poems, did not write them on paper, and so many of them were forgotten [1, р. 90].
The worldview of the Kazakh poet and thinker was influenced, first of all, by humanistic philosophy and poetry of the East (Ibn Sina, Alisher Navoi, Nizami and others), European literature, especially Russian classics, as well as revolutionary democratic thought of the Russian Empire through communication with political exiled in Semipalatinsk – N. Dolgopolov, E. Michaelis, S. Gross, A. Leontyev. With the revolutionary democrat Michaelis, who closely knew N. Chernyshevsky, Abai met in 1880 in a library in Semipalatinsk. This acquaintance grew into a strong friendship. Abai respected Yevgeny Petrovich for his tireless work on the study of hydrography of the Semipalatinsk region, the publication of the editorial board of the newspaper Semipalatinsk Regional Vedomosti, and broad erudition in the field of European and Russian philosophy and literature. Thanks to talking with a Russian friend on long winter evenings in Semipalatinsk, where the future poet always spent time from December to March, Abai began to read systematically and purposefully, expanding his horizons with the teachings of Aristotle, Socrates, Spinoza, Darwin, Spencer, the works of Tolstoy, Lermontov, Pushkin, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Goethe and Byron, A. Dumas. The plots of the famous novels by Dumas «Three Musketeers», «Queen Margot» became known in the Kazakh steppe in the oral presentation of Abai Kunanbayev.
With the filing of Michaelis in 1886, Abai became a member of the Semipalatinsk Regional Statistical Committee. And Michaelis, who for more than thirty years, until his death, lived in exile, first in Semipalatinsk, then in Ust-Kamenogorsk, both the lawyer Gross and the doctor Dolgopolov repeatedly visited the village of Abai at his invitation [1, р. 91].
1886–1889 were one of the most fruitful in the life of the poet when he managed to translate the poems of Pushkin, Lermontov into Kazakh, and also wrote his own works. Since these years, Abai began to sign his creations in his own name, and not in the name of the student and friend Kokbay Zhanatayuly. According to M. Auezov, the first poem with Abai’s authorship was «Summer» (1886) [5, р. 148]. In 1889 alone, 25 poems of various subjects came out from under his pen, which reflected the maturity of the poet and thinker, who had a large store of knowledge, experience and desire to create for his beloved people. From 1890 until the end of his life, Abai prefers the prosaic to the poetic genre, carried away by the creation of the «Words of edification» («Gakliya»), which will become a kind of testament of the poet to his descendants.
Abai had three wives – Dilda, Aigerim and Yerkezhan, whom he had to marry according to the Kazakh laws of levirate after the death of his younger brother Ospan; 10 children: 7 sons and 3 daughters. From Dilda, whose ancestor was Kazybek bi – Akylbay, Akimbay, Abdrakhman, Magauiya, Gulbadan and Raikhan; from Aigerim: Turagul, Mekail, Iskail, Kenzhe. Three of his children – Abdrakhman, Gulbadan and Magauiya – were educated at the Russian school in Semipalatinsk, unfortunately, due to poor health, his daughter and Magauiya were not able to continue their education, and Abdrakhman entered the St. Petersburg artillery school.
The eldest son Akylbay followed in the wake of his father and left behind the romantic poems «Dagestan», «Zulus». The most beloved son of Abai Magauy was also a talented poet; he wrote poems «Medgat-Kasym» about the struggle of an Egyptian slave with his master, «Shamil» about the head of the Dagestan national liberation movement in the Caucasus. Kokbay Zhanatayuly (1864–1927), whose main work is considered the poem «Sabalak» about the struggle of Abylay khan against the Zhongars, Shakarim Kudaiberdyuly (1858–1931), who was Abai’s nephew, was brought up in his aul after his father’s early death, he was also the disciples of Abai was the author of the poems «Kalkaman-Mamyr», «Enlik-Kebek», which were written largely under the influence of Abai.
The fate of the children of Abai was tragic: Akimbay died at the age of seven, two sons Abdrakhman (1868–1895) and Magauya (1870–1904) died at 27 and 34 years old, which suffered a heavy blow on the poet’s shoulders, his son Akylbay has not much survived Abai (1861–1904), and other children were subsequently repressed by the Soviet regime in the 1930s. His eldest son from Aigerim, Turagul, as a member of the Alash party, was twice arrested by the Soviet government (1922, 1927), and in 1934 died in exile in Saryagash. His younger brother Mekail was shot in the Semipalatinsk prison in 1931 without trial. Daughters Raikhan and Gulbadan also died in the 1930s [6]. Premature death from a prolonged illness of the most beloved son f Magauia, a talented poet, to whom Abai had high hopes, undermined the health of Abai. Having made wakes so called forty days) for his beloved son, the great poet has passed on, on July 6 (old style, June 23), 1904. He was buried in his native Zhidebay valley at the foot of the Shyngyz mountains. Akylbay passed away following his father.
Merits
Abai Kunanbayev is the founder and the first classic of Kazakh written literature, a major poet who created new dimensions and rhymes in versification: six-hundredths, eight-hundredths and others. The literary heritage of Abai includes about 170 verses, poems «Iskander», «The Legend of Azim», «Masgud» (1887), written in the traditions and on the plot basis of classical Eastern literature, «Words of Edification» («Qara Sozder»), 56 translations poems of European and Russian classics (Goethe, Byron, Krylov, Pushkin, Lermontov, etc.) [7]. After Abai, Kazakh youth got the opportunity to pour out their feelings in the Kazakh language with poems from Pushkin’s «Eugene Onegin», especially the famous «Tatyana’s Letter» («Tatyanany huts»), imbued with sadness and hope of a young girl, was especially fond of readers.
Especially close to him was the work of Mikhail Lermontov, socially and politically imprisoned against the autocratic regime, the lack of democratic freedoms of citizens, inhuman serfdom. Abai translated 30 poems of M. Lermontov from the collection published underground in Semipalatinsk into Kazakh. Through Lermontov’s «Mountain peaks» Abai translated Goethe’s «Night Song of the Wanderer» into Kazakh, composing music for poems. The song «Mountain on a Dark Night», according to Herald Belger, became «a unique phenomenon in the cultural life of the Kazakhs» [8, p. 22].
Abai’s poetry is lyrical and socially truthful, objectively reflecting the urgent problems of Kazakh society in the 19th century – women’s disenfranchised position, reverence and bribe-taking, tribal hatred, religious obscurantism of ishanas, ignorance, etc. The social cycle includes poems: «Kulembayu» (1888), «Finally, I became volost…» (1889), «The ruler of the authorities is glad…» (1889), etc.
The rich will not help the poor. Why pity him?
And if you give a piece, look – the length of the buoy to whip;
Work poor man, return the damned debt with the trinity,
After all, the rich – live and get rich, you – smolder in the grave! [9, p. 56]
And more philosophical poetry:
Studying stupidly, I missed life.
I got it, but late. Here it is, halt!
Half-Know – I imagined myself a sage
And arrogantly awaited awards and praises.
I dreamed of the rest,
And they themselves led me astray.
I am alone, but you will not consider arrogant ignoramuses,
And ridiculous jokes now in honor.
I have neither friends nor my beloved.
I sing tiredly at the end of years.
Oh how vast the world seemed
The times I met the dawn of life!
(Translated by A. Steinberg) [10, p. 45].
Of particular value are the lyrical works of Abai Kunanbayev, reflecting the subtlety, depth of his emotional impulses and poetic mastery. The poems about the seasons – «Spring» (1890), «Summer» (1886), «Autumn» (1889), «Winter» (1888), related to landscape lyrics – a new genre for Kazakh poetry, became famous. Abai also became an innovator, introducing satire into the circulation of Kazakh poetry, philosophical essays and new images in verses about the purpose of poetry, science, enlightenment of the people, love, friendship and etc.
About poetry he wrote the following:
Poetry is the ruler of the language,
Genius carves a miracle from stone.
Heart warms if speech is light
And the ear caresses the beauty of the utterances…
… Like an old biy proverb I don’t sculpt,
I do not mumble, changing my soul for a penny,
Words mean, loyal love,
And you listen to my simple speech!
(Translation by V. Zvyagintseva)[10, p. 57].
Descendants appreciated the abundant prose works of Abai Kunanbayev «Words of edification» – 45 accurate and philosophical sayings on moral and ethical topics, written on the slope of the great poet’s life and reflecting his life experience. Literally from the Kazakh language, the name is translated as «Black word», which in the Turkic tradition means a word that has an important and deep meaning. This work is known to Russian-speaking readers under the name «Words of Edification» («Gakliya»), it has been translated into many languages of the world, including German, French, Chinese, Mongolian, Tajik, Tatar, etc. Many aphorisms, winged words have become popular among the people: «The common man, glorified for his mind, is higher than a king crowned with happiness», «A young man who sells his labor is worthy of an old man selling his beard», «The son of his father is an enemy of the people, the son of the people is your friend», «Decent works for humanity», «Help the worthy; helping a shallow person is nothing but hurting yourself», «If you want the matter to work out, manage to tackle it» «About the transience remember life, Live from your neighbors without melting the Covenant thoughts. Be honest! Thy life bepure! » etc.
In the 25th word, Abai emphasizes the need to educate the Kazakh people, to teach children to read and write, not only Turkic, but also Russian: « It would be nice to educate Kazakh children and it would be quite enough to teach them at least Turkic literacy first… Need to learn Russian literacy. Spiritual wealth, knowledge, art and other innumerable secrets keeps the Russian language. In order to avoid the vices of Russians, to adopt their achievements, one must study their language, comprehend their science… Russian science, culture – the key to world treasures» [11]. In the verses he also encouraged the youth to learn:
Learn, learn hard,
Lean over the book and you’ll find the truth.
In learning do not spare labor –
And bold bright way then
You will open sagaciously!
In the «45th word» Abai expressed a wise opinion about scientists and science, emphasizing their special constructive mission: « Scientist and thinker – the pride of mankind. They become those who have more feelings and mind. We do not invent science, it appears as a result of our sensations, observations and thoughts about the world created around us and organized for us» [11].
It is very symbolic that the poet began his «Words of edification» with lines: « If anyone finds the word they need in them, let him rewrite or remember. My words will turn out to be unnecessary to people – will remain with me. And now I have no other worries…». It was as if he addressed a will to his people, bringing him the simplest truths through his words, filled with deep meaning. That is why the people honored, honors and will honor the wisdom of the thinker, accumulated in this work for centuries:
I said a lot of different words,
Pondering, connected them with a rhyme.
The road to conscience and honor,
And pointed to the correction.
Our speech is great,
Her to the glory of the future flow.
And our souls are not easy for us
Save from idle talk.
Save, my people, words are the essence,
Going ahead.
Meet all the holiday of life
Decent, not somehow.
Do not get lost! Know exactly
The road to hell and the trail to paradise.
And, taking the experience of the world,
Do not forget your cattle graze[10, p. 117].
The scholar M. Karatayev having analyzed the «Words of edification», came to the conclusion: «Condemning and condemning in his work everything that is harmful to the people that interferes with his progress and enlightenment, Abai wanted to believe in the power of his word and, as an enlightener, to hope that with this word negative phenomena in life are eliminated. In this regard, he had much in common with the Russian poet Nekrasov. But then reality could not bring him comfort. She brought the poet and enlightener some grief and disappointment» [12].
Abai’s legacy includes more than 20 pieces of music, including the songs «Octave» («Segiz ayak»), «What will you do to me» («Sen meni ne etesin»), «Humiliated my soul» («Kor boldy zhanym»). The song on his verses «You are the pupil of my eyes» («Kozimnin karasy») received all-national love:
Light of my eyes-You.
Brad speeches my-You
My heart is on fire,
And you lit it!
Though all steppe to bypass,
Sage not find,
Who would have seen and met
It looks like You!
How many tears will I shed!
How many words!
To say at the right time,
How I love you!
(Translation: B. Dzhilkibaev) [13, p. 45].
Abai was fascinated by lyricism, the subtlety of the feelings of the Russian romance, the sincerity, the truthfulness of folk songs, he knew well the work of such Russian composers as M.I. Glinka, A.A. Alyabyev, A.E. Varlamov, A.G. Rubinshtein, etc. In the work of Abai there is a cycle of songs created on the basis of poems translated from Russian. Famous Soviet Kazakh composers M. Tolebaev, S. Mukhamedzhanov, N. Tlendiev, G. Zhubanova, who highly appreciated the poet’s literary syllable, wrote romances and songs to the poet’s poetry.
The philosophy of the works of Abai Kunanbayev, who dreamed about the spiritual revival of the Kazakh people, their prosperity and progress through familiarization with European and Russian culture, had a huge impact on the formation of the Kazakh national ideology and the intelligentsia of the Kazakhs of the late XIX – early XX centuries – A. Bokeikhanov, A. Baitursynov and etc. Alikhan Bokeikhanov published an obituary in the newspaper Semipalatinsk Leaflet in connection with the death of the poet, and then in 1907 wrote an article with a portrait of Abai for the journal Notes of the Semipalatinsk Branch of the West Siberian Division of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Russian contemporaries of the Kazakh poet and thinker also understood the greatness of his personality. So, in 1914, the Turkologist V.V. Gordlevsky suggested publishing some works by Abai Kunanbayev and Mirzhakip Dulatov as the most prominent representatives of Kazakh literature in the «Oriental Collection», published in honor of the 70th anniversary of the famous orientalist, academician N.I. Veselovsky [7].
Meanwhile, the first works of Abai were published in St. Petersburg in 1909 (Ilyas Boragansky publishing house) under the title «Complete Works» («Tolyk zhinak»), the original of which is in Arabic in Kazakh language and is stored in the Abai Museum in Semipalatinsk. After the death of the poet, his heir – nephew Kakitai Yskakuly and son Turagul decided to publish the verses of his great ancestor in order to perpetuate his name. In 1905, the poet’s collected poems were handed over to Mullah Murseit Bikeuly, who undertook to rewrite them with calligraphic handwriting for publication. A month later, the manuscript was ready and submitted at the end of July 1905 by Kakitay to Alikhan Bokeikhanov. He managed to publish a book consisting of 17 parts and a biography of the poet (140 poems and poems «Iskander» and «Masgut»), only in 1909 [14]. In addition, a great contribution to the publication of some of Abai’s poems during his lifetime, to the collection of materials about him was made by the follower of the poet already mentioned Kokbay Zhanatayuly (1864-1927), who was also a poet and enlightener involved in the national liberation movement «Alash» [15].
An entire reserach direction in literary studies has developed in our country and abroad – Abai studies, which was developed by representatives of the Alash movement, as well as M. Auezov, S. Mukanov, K. Zhumaliev, K. Mukhamedkhanov, B. Kenzhebayev, M.S. Silchenko, T. Tazhibaev, B.G. Erzakovich, T. Zhurtbay.
Memory
The most outstanding work about Abai is the two-volume epic novel «Abai» and «Abai Zholy» («The Way of Abai») M.O. Auezov, written in the second half of the 1940s (Lenin Prize, 1959). The image of an outstanding poet-enlightener is captured in works of literature, music, and fine art. Poet Galina Timofeyenko dedicated the following lines to Abai:
I am close to this Man.
He lived his cruel age.
Wealth-poverty, heaven and hell
He knew everything in life and was glad
In the steppe to meet the dawn, sunset,
With winds silently to speak,
The Mare traveller to drink,
Share your thoughts with others,
Loved people and was loved…
And we honor him [16, р. 45].
Two intravital photographs of Abai Kunanbayev preserved: photo of 1896, in which Abai is captured with his sons Akylbay and Turagul. This photograph was taken in 1940 in the poet’s museum in Semipalatinsk M.O. Auezov was accepted into the fund by the well-known abaologist Kayum Muhamedkhanov. The second family photograph was taken in 1903, shortly before the death of the thinker. He represents Abai, his third wife, Yerkezhan, sons of Turagul and Magaui, grandchildren – Pakizat, Abubakir (from the son of Akylbay) and his wife Kamalia. The only portrait of Abai is a pencil sketch of the political exile P.D. Lobanovsky, made in 1887 for the exhibition «Types of Kazakhs in the Semipalatinsk Region» for the fair held then in Uralsk [17].
The Abai Literary and Memorial Museum was opened in 1940 during the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the poet in Semipalatinsk. In 1945, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the house-museum of the great Abai Kunanbayev in the Zhidebay aul was opened for visitors (located 180 kilometers from Semey, Abai district).
For the first time, a monument to the poet was erected in the former capital of the Kazakh SSR Alma-Ata in 1960 (sculptor Kh.I. Nauryzbaev, architect I.I. Belotserkovsky), currently 20 monuments have been erected in honor of Abai, not only in our country, but and in Russia, China, Iran, Egypt, etc. Every year on the poet’s birthday, poetry hearings are held on the square in Almaty, dedicated to the great Abai.
The State Prize of Kazakhstan in the field of literature was established in memory of Abai. The city, administrative centers, streets, theaters, libraries and other objects in the republic are named in honor of Abai. The Kazakh State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, the Kazakh National Pedagogical University in Almaty, the central avenues of the cities of Kazakhstan, the peak in the spur of the ridge Ile Alatau are named after Abai. 150th anniversary of Abai in 1995 passed under the auspices of UNESCO, and in 2020, the world community will celebrate the 175th anniversary of the poet and thinker.
References:
11 Abaidyn kara sozderі // Rezhim dostupa: // http: // bourabai.kz/articles/black_word.htm.
15 Zhanataev K. // Rezhim dostupa: http: // imena.pushkinlibrary.kz/kz/pisateli-i-poetykz/675-.html.
16 Timofeenko G. Abaju // Literaturnaja Alma-Ata: al’manah. – 2006. – № 3. – S. 45.
Photo gallery on the life of Abai Kunanbayev
Abai family tree. Author: Aktasalga. Material from the site: http://aktasalga.blogspot.com/.
Education and spiritual origins of Abai. Author: Aktasalga. Material from the site: http://aktasalga.blogspot.com/.
The only lifetime portrait of Abai. Painter Lobanovsky P.D. 1887 y. Pencil (Under the portrait was the inscription: «Honorary Kirghiz Ibrahim Kunanbayev, Chingiz parish of Semipalatinsk district. 45 years old. He is a member of the regional statistical Committee»). Access mode: https://alashainasy.kz/userdata/editions/pdf/357aaea02e5fd7568fd718511f65092f.pdf.
Abai with family members – wife Erkezhan, sons Turagul and Magauiya, grandsons – Pakizat, Abubakir and his wife Kamaliya. Semey c.. 1903 г. Access mode: https://lenta.inform.kz/kz/abaydyn-oz-kolymen-semeydegi-muzeyge-tapsyrgan-zhadigerleri-zhayly-ne-bilemiz_a3555074.
The original letter of Abai to his son Magauiya. Arabic script. 1896 y. From the personal fund of Musakhan Baltakaiuly. Museum of Abai in Semipalatinsk. Access mode: https://lenta.inform.kz/kz/abaydyn-oz-kolymen-semeydegi-muzeyge-tapsyrgan-zhadigerleri-zhayly-ne-bilemiz_a3555074.
N. Anastasyev’s book «Abai. The severity of the flight» from the series «Wonderful people’s lives» with the inscription to the Leader of the Nation Nazarbayev N.A..: «To Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev – politician, philosopher-humanist, a man with dignity carrying the heavy burden of power through life». Access mode: http://presidentlibrary.kz/ru/news/literaturnoe-nasledie-abaya-gordost-kazahskogo-naroda
Monument to Abai’s grandmother Zere. Kalbatau vil., Zharma district, East Kazakhstan region. Sculptor Tatayev Е. Photo: Polomoshnova L. 2016. Access mode: https://rudnyi-altai.kz/pamyatnik-babushke-zere/.
A copy of the first edition of Abai’s «Complete works», published in St. Petersburg in 1909. Author: Suleimenov. Source: Suleimenov А. The first book of Abai. 17.08.2018. – Access mode: https://e-history.kz/ru/publications/view/4378.