Osmonkul Bolebalaev (1888—1967) — improvisational poet, People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR (1942), member of the Union of Writers of the USSR (1940).
He was born in the village of Chon-Dala in the Kant district, now in the Chui region, in the family of a manap (local leader).
Bolebala, Osmonkul's father, wanted to see his son as an educated person. The future akyn studied at a Muslim school, was familiar with Kazakh and Uzbek poetry, knew excerpts from Kazakh dastans "Kyz Zhibek," "Kozu Kerpesh, Bayan Sulu" and sang them accompanied by a dombra.
The professional development of Bolebalaev was influenced by Kalik Akiev, who performed with him starting in 1918. In 1925, at the celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region, Osmonkul and Kalik were appointed as heralds (jarchi).
In 1926, Osmonkul was delegated to Baku for a Turkological congress to participate in a concert program. That same year, he was accepted into the Kyrgyz National Musical and Dramatic Studio, where he performed as an improvisational akyn in concerts and as an actor in plays.
From 1936, Osmonkul Bolebalaev worked as a soloist-akyn of the Kyrgyz State Philharmonic. For several years, he headed the concert brigade of the philharmonic and was successful with audiences wherever he performed. At the first All-Kyrgyz Olympiad of Folk Musical Creativity, Osmonkul participated with an akyn improvisation. A. Zataevich, who was present at the olympiad, recorded three of his works: "Termes of Osmonkul" ("Osmonkulдун термеси"), "Sorrowful Gulai" ("Армандуу Гулай"), and "The Shepherd's Lament" ("Койчунун зары").
The song and poetic heritage of Osmonkul Bolebalaev consists of works in various akyn genres, including solo and dialogical songs in their traditional didactic, historical, lyrical, satirical, and other varieties.
Thanks to radio and gramophone recordings, the following songs by Osmonkul gained wide popularity: "Osmonkulдун термеси" performed by Tuuganbay Abdiev, "Daughter of the Happy People" ("Таалайлуу элдин бир кызы") performed by M. Omurkanova, "My Homeland" ("Мекеним"), "Bright May" ("Шандуу май") performed by the author.
In Kyrgyzstan, six books by Osmonkul Bolebalaev have been published, containing both song texts and poems.
