Critic, literary scholar, prose writer Sh. Umetaliev was born on February 10, 1925, in the village of Tyuz, Sokuluk District, Kyrgyz SSR, in a peasant family. In 1942, he graduated from A. M. Gorky Secondary School, in 1951—Kyrgyz State Pedagogical Institute, and in 1955—postgraduate studies at the Institute of Literature and Language of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Moscow. Candidate of Philological Sciences (1955).
In 1945, he served in the ranks of the Soviet Army. Until 1947, he worked as a deputy director and director of the Archalinskaya seven-year school in Sokuluk District. From 1955 to 1960 and from 1977 to 1981, he worked as a senior lecturer at the Kyrgyz State University named after the 50th anniversary of the USSR, from 1961 to 1965—at the Kyrgyz Women's Pedagogical Institute named after V. V. Mayakovsky, and from 1966 to 1977—senior researcher at the Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR.
He has been engaged in literary criticism since 1950. He is the author of about a hundred critical articles, notes, reviews dedicated to various problems of Kyrgyz Soviet literature, several monographs, and literary-critical collections dedicated to the works of the classics of Kyrgyz Soviet literature Toktogul Satylganov, A. Tokombaev, A. Osmonov, as well as several original artistic works, co-author of a textbook on native literature for the 10th grade, and essays on the history of Kyrgyz Soviet literature published in 1960. The writer's works have been published in Russian.
Member of the Union of Writers of the USSR since 1953.
Awarded medals "For Valorous Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," "20 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," "30 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945," "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR," and others.
SEPARATE PUBLICATIONS
in Kyrgyz:
Alykul Osmonov: His Life and Creativity. —Fr.: Kyrgyzmambas, 1958. — 184 p.
Aaly Tokombaev: The Path of Creativity. —Fr.: Mektep, 1964. — 103 p.
Truth and Creation: A Collection of Literary Criticism Articles. —Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1964. —244 p. Reality and Creativity.
Literature in the World of Realism. —Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1968. — 114 p. Literature on the Rise.
The Formation of the Method of Socialist Realism in Kyrgyz Soviet Literature. —Fr.: Mektep, 1973. — 114 p. Toktogul: A Literary Portrait. —Fr.: Mektep, 1975. —53 p.
In the World of Realism: Literary Criticism Articles. — Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1976.—280 p. Lenin and October in Kyrgyz Folk Poetry. —Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1977. —83 p. Life's Trap: Stories and Novellas. — Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1979. —248 p. The Tale of Life.
Familiar Stranger: Articles. —Fr.: Mektep, 1981. — 136 p. Life's Pass: Stories. —Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1983. —224 p. The Crossing of Life.
The Path of Development of Kyrgyz Literature. —Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1985. — 166 p. From a Pure Heart: Literary Criticism Articles. — Fr.: Kyrgyzstan, 1986. — 172 p.
in Russian:
Aaly Tokombaev: Critical-Biographical Essay. — Fr.: Kyrgyzgosizdat, 1958. — 106 p.