Poet and prose writer M. Elebaev was born in the village of Chon-Tash in the present-day Tyup district of the Issyk-Kul region into a peasant-poor family. Orphaned at the age of 9, he worked as a laborer for the rich. In 1916, he ended up in China with refugees and returned from there in 1919. In the spring of 1920, he studied literacy for a while at the literacy school in the village of Jyluu-Bulak, and from 1921, he was raised in a boarding school in the city of Przhevalsk. From 1924 to 1926, he studied at the Tyup Veterinary Technical School, and in 1930, he graduated successfully from the Frunze Pedagogical Technical School.
M. Elebaev is one of the founders of Kyrgyz Soviet professional literature. In 1924, one of the first issues of the newspaper "Erkin-Töo" published his poem "Zarygam" ("I Am Tormented"), in which the author sharply raises the issue of overcoming illiteracy among his people and expresses the aspiration of Kyrgyz youth to acquire knowledge. In the poem "Our Youth," published in 1928, he rejoices that the children of nomads, shepherds, and laborers began to study in Moscow, Tashkent, Almaty, and other cities. His first poetry collection "Yrlardyn zhiyinagy" was published in 1931.
M. Elebaev is the author of the major novel "Uzak jol" ("Long Way") — the first experience of realistic prose of an autobiographical nature in Kyrgyz literature. The logical continuation of this novel was the essay "Kyiyn kezen" ("Difficult Crossing"), published in 1938, and the stories "Zarlyk" and "On a Blustery Day." In 1943, the poetry collection "Uulu marsh" ("Great March") was published, which included poems written by the poet at the front during the Great Patriotic War. M. Elebaev is one of the first Kyrgyz writers engaged in translating works of world and Russian classics into the Kyrgyz language. He translated works by N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy, fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin, poems by S. Marshak, and others. His novel "Long Way" was published in Russian and Latvian.
M. Elebaev died at the front during the Great Patriotic War in the Pskov region.
Member of the Union of Soviet Writers since 1934.
Schools in the village of Taldy-Suu in the Tyup district of the Issyk-Kul region and School No. 13 in the Bazar-Kurgan district of the Osh region, libraries, and streets in cities and villages of the republic are named after M. Elebaev.
SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS
in Kyrgyz language:
Yrlardyn zhiyinagy. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1931. —99 p. Poetry collection.
Maydan: Zhiyinak. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1933. —60 p. Front.
Uzak jol: Roman. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1936. —80 p. Long Way.
Yrlardyn toluq zhiyinagy. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1936. —80 p. Complete works.
Kyiyn kezen: Essay. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1938. —52 p. Difficult time.
Yrlardyn toluq zhiyinagy. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1938. —104 p. Complete collection of poems.
Salam kat: Yrlardyn. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1938. —48 p. Letter.
Uulu marsh: Yrlardyn. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1943. —32 p. Great March.
Yrlardyn zhiyinagy. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1947. —84 p. Poetry collection.
Uzak jol: Roman. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1949. —164 p. Long Way.
Tandalg'an yrlardyn. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1953. —184 p. Selected poems.
Uzak jol: Prozalık chyg'armalar zhiyinagy. —F.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1959. —283 p. Long Way.
Uzak jol: Prozalık chyg'armalar. —F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1971. —246 p. Long Way.
Tandalg'an chyg'armalardyn bir tomduk zhiyinagy. —F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1974. —448 p. Selected works in one volume.
Kyiyn kezen: Povest' jana atg'emele. —F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1974. —118 p. Difficult time.
Uzak jol: Povest'ler, yrlardyn, kotormolor. —F.: Mektep, 1974. —391 p. Long Way.
Kuresh butpeit: Yrlardyn jana kotormolor. —F.: Mektep, 1979. —104 p. The struggle continues.
Kyiyn kezek: Povest'ter, atg'emele. —F.: Kyrgyzstan, 1980. —280 p. Difficult time.
Uzak jol: Povest'ter. —F.: Mektep, 1984. —192 p.
in Russian language:
Long Way: Povest'. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1959. —117 p.
Long Way: Povest'. —F.: Mektep, 1982. —128 p.
in the languages of the peoples of the USSR Long Way: Povest'. —Riga: Liesma, 1977. —176 p. —Lat.
TRANSLATIONS
Danilich-Kochin A. Dynamite: Story. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1934. —31 p.
Furmanov D. M. Rebellion: Novel. —F. —Kazan: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1936. —199 p.
Marshak S. Ya. About the silly mouse: Poems. —F. —Kazan: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1937. —8 p.
Tolstoy L. N. Hadji Murat: Povest'. —F. —Kazan: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1938. —139 p.
Gogol N. V. The Overcoat: Povest'. —F. —Kazan: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1938. —46 p.
Pushkin A. S. The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes. —F.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1940. —18 p.
