AUGUST
1 – 75 years since the birth of historian Anvar Baitur (1938–1991), a Chinese Kyrgyz
2 – 65 years since the birth of corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, Doctor of Technical Sciences U. N. Birimkulov (1948)
4 – Day of Railway Workers of Kyrgyzstan
– Day of Remembrance of the 1916 Uprising
5 – 115 years since the birth of V. I. Lebedev-Kumach (1898–1949), a Russian poet-songwriter
6 – Hiroshima Day. International Day for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
9 – International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
11 – Builder's Day of the Kyrgyz Republic
13 – 70 years ago, the solemn opening of the Kyrgyz branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences took place (1943) (now the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic)
15 – 90 years since the birth of Sh. Usubaliev (1923–2006), writer, honored figure of culture of Kyrgyzstan
18 – Day of Military Aviation of the Kyrgyz Republic
19 – 155 years since the birth of Emily Brontë (1818–1848), English writer
– 155 years since the birth of the famous Russian artist S. A. Korovin (1858–1908)
21 – 100 years since the birth of V. S. Rozov (1913–1994), Russian playwright
24 – Day of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic
25 – Day of Workers of the Coal Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic
– 95 years since the birth of S. Bolekbai (1918–1984), Kyrgyz writer, satirist, translator
– 95 years since the birth of L. Bernstein (1918–1990), American conductor, composer, pianist
26 – 100 years since the birth of A. B. Chakovsky (1913–1994), Russian writer
27 – Day of Sports Workers and Physical Culture Workers
28 – 105 years since the birth of S. I. Ilyasov (1908–1987), historian, laureate of the State Prize of the Kyrgyz SSR in the field of science and technology
– 75 years since the birth of A. Stamov (1938–2010), people's writer, laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kyrgyzstan, honored figure of culture of the Kyrgyz Republic
30 – Day of the Archivist of Kyrgyzstan
31 – Independence Day of the Kyrgyz Republic
In 2013, the following anniversaries are celebrated:
– 145 years since the development of the Suluktinskoye (1868) and 115 years since the development of the Kyzyl-Kiy coal deposits (1898)
– 95 years since the birth of Nurkamal Zhetykashkayeva (1918–1952), Kyrgyz poetess
– 85 years since the birth of Doctor of Medical Sciences, honored figure of health care of the Kyrgyz Republic A. Zh. Jumaliev (1928)
– 80 years since the birth of Doctor of Veterinary Sciences, honored figure of science B. Kasymbekov (1933)
– 150 years since the birth of the famous manaschi Omur uulu Choyuke (1863–1925)
August is the last month of summer. The heat subsides, the grains ripen, the harvest season approaches, and nature generously bestows fruits and vegetables. August got its name from the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus.
The ancient Russian names for the month are serpenty, khlebosol, pripasikha, soberikha. In ancient times, the Kyrgyz called it bash oona.
AUGUST 4
DAY OF RAILWAY WORKERS OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
On August 4, railway workers of Kyrgyzstan celebrate their professional holiday. The first railway line, Lugovaya-Pishpek, was built in the 1920s. Since then, the total length of railways in the republic has reached 423.9 km.
Railway transport plays a significant role in the country's economy. In order to further increase national economic freight traffic, an increase in the freight turnover of railway transport is planned. One of the priority tasks for the republic is the construction of a new railway line from Karasuu to Torugart to Kashgar with access to China, which will allow Kyrgyzstan to enter the global transport system. This railway line will connect the countries of Southeast Asia, the Pacific coast, and, on the other hand, Russia, the Middle East, and the European Union countries with access to the Atlantic.
Another important task is the electrification of the Kyrgyz railway, which will allow the implementation of the most modern technologies and expand the infrastructure.
Currently, the Kyrgyz railway is transforming: a new car repair plant is being built, investment work is being established, and the salaries of railway workers are increasing. And this is just the beginning of a radical renewal and modernization of the industry.
AUGUST 11
DAY OF BUILDERS OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
On August 11, builders of the republic celebrate their professional holiday. Builders – representatives of the most peaceful, honorable, and respected profession – provide people with homes, warmth, and comfort, erect industrial enterprises, schools, and hospitals, create beautiful cities and villages, develop the country's natural resources, and create infrastructure.
Construction is a collective talent, will, thought, and work of specialists from many fields. The labor of representatives of this creative profession is dedicated to an important goal – creating comfortable living and working conditions for people. Thanks to their skilled hands, cities and settlements become more beautiful, and their architectural appearance changes.
The construction industry of the republic is currently strengthening and developing, making a worthy contribution to the development of our country's economy. In recent years, many construction societies, firms, companies, and enterprises have emerged in the republic. Step by step, they are creating the modern appearance of our country. Architects propose interesting projects for buildings and structures that fit well into and subtly change the appearance of our country.
Today, the profession of builder is the most in-demand in Kyrgyzstan. If production facilities and housing are being built, it means that bricks and glass are being produced, timber is being processed, furniture is being made, curtains are being sewn, and dishes are being purchased. One builder provides work for six workers in other sectors.
AUGUST 13
70 YEARS OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
70 years ago, in January 1943, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on the organization of the Kyrgyz branch of the All-Union Academy of Sciences, and on August 13, 1943, its solemn opening took place in the city of Frunze. The Kyrgyz branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (which was later abbreviated as the branch) was organized on the basis of several existing scientific institutions in Kyrgyzstan and the evacuated biological department of the USSR Academy of Sciences. It included the geological, biological, chemical institutes, as well as the history of language and literature, economic geography group, local history museum, and scientific library.
The establishment of the branch was actively participated in by the president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, academicians A. N. Bakh, A. A. Borisyak, I. I. Meshchaninov, V. A. Engelhardt, corresponding members S. E. Malov, V. M. Zhirmunskiy, professor B. G. Masson, and others. The most significant, and personally very colorful figure, was the first chairman of the branch, academician Konstantin Ivanovich Skryabin. A leading specialist in helminthology and general veterinary medicine, a magnificent organizer, a person of great soul, he managed to unite around him a productive team of students, followers, and, most importantly, like-minded people.
In 11 years, the Kyrgyz branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences grew into a major scientific center. It included 6 institutes and several other scientific institutions, employing more than 500 staff, including 13 doctors and 83 candidates of sciences. On the eve of the organization of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR, there were already 40 doctors and 345 candidates of sciences of various specialties working in 32 research institutions and universities of the republic, engaged in the study of a number of important scientific problems of national economic and cultural development. Scientific institutions were annually replenished with young specialists – graduates of central and republican higher educational institutions.
The high level of the economy and culture, the presence of highly qualified personnel, the accumulated scientific potential, and a number of important scientific studies carried out during these years allowed for a positive resolution of the issue of organizing the Academy of Sciences in the republic.
On August 17, 1954, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution on the organization of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR in the city of Frunze on the basis of the Kyrgyz branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences and other republican scientific institutions, and in December of the same year, its solemn opening took place.
Currently, the National Academy has highly qualified specialists capable of solving complex scientific problems. Broad research is being conducted in scientific institutions in the fields of geology and mathematics, physics and mechanics of rocks, seismology and automation, chemistry and biology, physiology and experimental pathology, history and economics, Kyrgyz language and literature, and major scientific and technical problems are being developed.
The Academy of Sciences acts as a coordinating center for all scientific research in the republic, conducting its work in close contact with universities.
AUGUST 15
SHARSHENALY USUBALIEV – 90 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH
On August 15, we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the birth of Sharshenaly Usubaliev (1923–2006), a writer, honored figure of culture of Kyrgyzstan, and organizer of film production in the republic.
Sharshenaly Usubaliev is widely known for his activities in the public life of Kyrgyzstan. His youth was dedicated to Komsomol work; he was the first secretary of the Petrovsky District Committee of the Komsomol, the first secretary of the Frunze City Committee of the Komsomol, and head of the department for work among rural youth at the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Kyrgyzstan. All his subsequent activities were related to film production in Kyrgyzstan. Usubaliev invested much effort into the development of cinematography and film distribution in our republic, holding positions such as head of the Frunze Regional Department of Culture, director of the “Kyrgyzfilm” film studio, chairman of the Committee for Cinematography under the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR, head of the Main Department of Cinematography and Film Distribution of the Ministry of Culture of the Kyrgyz SSR, senior consultant for Asian and African countries at “Sovexportfilm,” and deputy chairman of the State Cinema of the Kyrgyz SSR.
The name of Usubaliev is well known in both literary and reading circles. He frequently wrote in the periodical press on issues of culture and cinematography. His articles, essays, and reviews were published in the newspapers “Kyrgyzstan Pioneri,” “Leninchil Zhas,” “Soviet Kyrgyzstan,” and the magazine “Ala-Too.” In 1966, his book “The Youngest and Most Popular Art” was published, dedicated to Kyrgyz cinema.
Usubaliev translated K. Mikhsat's novel “Strange Marriage” into Kyrgyz, authored the book “Great and Touching Friendship,” the story “Traces in the Swamp,” and a number of essays about the Panfilovites.
AUGUST 25
DAY OF WORKERS OF THE COAL INDUSTRY OF KYRGYZSTAN
145 years since the development of the Suluktinskoye (1868) and 115 years since the Kyzyl-Kiy (1898) coal deposits were discovered. The coal of Kyrgyzstan occupies one of the leading places in the fuel balance of the Central Asian republics. It is no coincidence that Kyrgyzstan has been called the “stoker” of Central Asia. The first coal mines appeared here in the southern part of the republic – in the Sulukty and Kyzyl-Kiya regions.
The Suluktin coal began to be developed 145 years ago – in 1868, although the extraction was insignificant. Regular development only began in 1901. The major coal enterprise was the partnership “Suluktin Coal A. M. Verbov and Co.,” whose operations began in 1905. In addition to Russian capital, German capital was also invested in the enterprise (a German subject, Karl-Baron, was a member of the partnership). The mines were located far from the Central Asian railway, and the partnership built a 27 km access road to the Dragomirovo station. In addition, a cableway was constructed, through which coal was delivered directly to the access railway branch.
Another oldest and largest industrial enterprise in the coal industry is the Kyzyl-Kiya mine. The Kyzyl-Kiya deposit has long been known to the local population.
The first discoverers of the coal deposits were Kyrgyz shepherds who grazed livestock in the mountains. They mined “burning stone” in the Ishma-Bulak gorge at the outcrops of layers washed away by mountain streams and used it as fuel. In 1898, with their help, district engineer Mikhailov conducted the first geological surveys in the Ishma-Bulak area (now Kyzyl-Kiya) and filed a claim for this deposit in favor of the treasury. This year is considered the official year of the discovery of the Kyzyl-Kiya coal deposit. The newspaper “Turkestanskie Vedomosti” reported on this deposit, and immediately Russian and foreign mining entrepreneurs rushed to this region. Several mines were built by various owners, the largest of which belonged to French entrepreneur Foss. The developments were small: in 1904, 28 people worked in the mines; coal production amounted to 150,000 poods.
In 1904, the mines were acquired by N. D. Batyushkov, who made the first serious attempts to equip the mines with technology. The working and living conditions of the miners were harsh. The mines were simple log structures.
Underneath was a hole in the ground – the entrance to the mine, the so-called “dudka,” resembling a well, from which long, crooked tunnels branched out in different directions. Through the “dudka,” the miner descended into the tunnel on a wooden bucket. The bucket was lowered and raised on a hemp rope using a winch powered by two horses. Such a rope often broke, as the bucket alternately lifted coal and people. The explosive powder for blasting rock was made on-site in a primitive way. Instead of a safety fuse, cane filled with powder was used. The workings were illuminated by oil lamps (chirak), consisting of a can with oil and a piece of tow. It was dusty from the rock, smoky and suffocating from the lamps. To see each other, the miners had to kneel. The average monthly productivity of the miners at that time was only 3.2 tons.
Today, coal mines are equipped with modern equipment: cleaning and tunneling combines, coal-loading machines, and electric locomotives are used for transporting coal through underground horizontal workings. The main processes of coal mining have been mechanized: extraction, delivery, transportation, as well as coal loading, and high-performance coal combines and complexes are used.
AUGUST 25
BOLEKBAEV SAMANSUR – 95 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH
Samansur Bolekbai (1918–1984) is an honored worker of culture, one of the prominent Kyrgyz writers, a master of prose and translation. His works gained wide recognition in our republic.
At the beginning of his creative path, S. Bolekbai emerged as a translator of children's literature (“Gavroche” by V. Hugo, “Packet” by L. Panteleev). Thanks to the writer's translations, the works of V. Hugo's “Les Misérables,” Cervantes' “Don Quixote,” Jaroslav Hašek's “The Good Soldier Švejk,” J. Fuchik's “Report from the Gallows,” and fairy tales by D. Rodari, as well as works by A. Gaidar, A. Rybakov, and V. Vasilievskaya became the property of the Kyrgyz reader.
He authored several original works in the genre of satire. As a humorist and satirist, S. Bolekbai is known to the Russian reader through his book of satirical and humorous stories “Laughter Takes.”
The collection of novellas in Russian “Truth” is also widely known to readers. It includes the novella “Baitur” about the difficult childhood of an orphan boy, the novella “Truth” about war, love, and friendship, which helped the people endure the harsh struggle against fascism.
The novella “Jusup” is dedicated to the famous Kyrgyz poet and playwright Jusus Turoosbekov, who heroically died during the Great Patriotic War.
The writer's most significant work in Russian is the trilogy “Life as a Hair.”
AUGUST 28
SATAR ILYASOVICH ILYASOV – 105 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH
One of the pioneers in researching and writing the centuries-old history of his people was academician Satar Ilyasovich Ilyasov (1908–1987).
His path to science was not easy. He was born in the village of Toru-Aygyr in the Issyk-Kul region. He began his labor activity in 1918 as a shepherd, then as a horse herder at a horse farm. Only in 1924, at the age of 16, did he have the opportunity to study at a boarding school in the city of Przhevalsk.
In 1926, he entered the school of accounting in the city of Frunze. After graduating, he worked as an accountant, secretary of the village council, and inspector of the district finance. But this work did not satisfy him. In 1934, he became a student at the Kyrgyz Pedagogical Institute – the first higher educational institution in the republic, which he graduated with honors in 1938 and was appointed director of the workers' faculty at the Pedagogical Institute. From 1939 to 1942, he underwent a course of postgraduate training in modern history.
S. Ilyasov's first scientific article was published in 1938 in the newspaper “Kyzyl Kyrgyzstan” under the title “Monuments of Antiquity,” and in 1940 – the second – “Historical Monuments in the Tien Shan Region.” After completing his postgraduate studies, he worked as a teacher and headed a department at the Pedagogical Institute. On February 15, 1944, he was accepted as a junior researcher in the historical department of the Institute of Language, Literature, and History (ILLI) of the Kyrgyz branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and on March 10 of the same year, he was appointed director of this institute. As the director of ILLI, he proved to be a talented organizer of scientific research, under his leadership, the institute significantly expanded the scope of research and achieved success in addressing scientific problems in the history, language, and literature of the Kyrgyz people. He then worked for many years at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences. In 1960, S. Ilyasov was elected a corresponding member, and in 1969 – a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR. In subsequent years, he served as director of the Institute of History at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan, a member of the presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR, and a scientific consultant at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences.
He dedicated 50 years of his life to researching the history of the Kyrgyz people. Academician Ilyasov is the author of more than 140 scientific works, including 10 fundamental monographs, and he was the responsible editor of a dozen monographs, actively participating in the preparation of the publications “History of the Kyrgyz SSR” and “Essays on the History of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan.”
Most of his works are dedicated to the study of agrarian relations of the Kyrgyz people. His scientific works are a significant contribution to the development of this problem. However, his circle of scientific interests did not limit itself to this. His research subjects also included issues of ethnography and problems of economic and cultural cooperation among peoples. He did much for the formation of a whole generation of historians.
His merits in the development of historical science were recognized with the award of the State Prize of the republic in 1969 and the title of “Honored Figure of Science of the Kyrgyz SSR” in 1972.
AUGUST 28
ASANBEK STAMOV – 75 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH
In modern Kyrgyz literature, the name Asanbek Stamov (1938–2010), people's writer, laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kyrgyzstan, honored figure of culture of the Kyrgyz Republic, knight of the “Manas” order, and honorary citizen of Bishkek, is widely known.
A. Stamov was born in the village of Murake in the Moscow district of Chui region. He began his labor activity in 1962 after graduating from the philological faculty of Kyrgyz State University as a school teacher.
He held positions such as director of the “Kyrgyzstan” printing house, first deputy minister of culture of Kyrgyzstan, chairman of the State Television and Radio of the Kyrgyz Republic, director of the Bureau for the Promotion of Fiction of the Union of Writers of Kyrgyzstan, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Chalkan,” and chairman of the state concert organization “Uchkun.” He was a member of the presidium of the Union of Writers of the Kyrgyz Republic and the plenum of the Union of Writers of the USSR, and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR. The writer's works began to be published in 1960. His books include: “Acquaintance” (1966), “Late Autumn” (1969), “New Relative” (1973, awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kyrgyzstan in 1975), “After the Rain” (1976), “Chui Tales” (1978), and others.
A. Stamov is widely known as the author of more than a hundred short stories, novellas, and novels, making a special contribution to the development of domestic artistic literature. The works of Asanbek Stamov are characterized by dramatic situations and lyricism; the writer carefully examines the psychological state of his heroes, revealing their thoughts, feelings, and often very complex experiences. Significant roles in A. Stamov's works are played by poetic depictions of the nature of his native land.
In the last years of his life, the writer presented to readers a new novel “Khan Teish,” dedicated to the struggle of the Kyrgyz people against the Dzungar conquerors in the late 17th to mid-18th centuries. The peculiarity of the work is that against the backdrop of real historical events, a broad panorama of folk life unfolds before the reader. This novel is a treasure trove of folk wisdom and linguistic eloquence. The reader will find here extensive ethnographic material, recreating in his imagination the way of life of distant ancestors.
The encyclopedic nature of the well-known writer's long-term work is a significant contribution to the treasury of the historical and artistic memory of the people.
AUGUST 30
DAY OF THE ARCHIVIST OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
On August 30, 1926, the Oblispolkom of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Region adopted a resolution “On the Organization of Archival Affairs in the KAO and the Arrangement of Archival Materials at Institutions Located in the Territory of the KAO.” The archival bureau established in accordance with this document marked the beginning of the creation of a network of state and departmental archives in Kyrgyzstan. To date, the small archival bureau has transformed into an extensive system of institutions of the State Archive Agency under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, accumulating a vast amount of information.
In three central, eight regional, and more than fifty city and district archives, there are now 3.5 million storage units on paper, over 16 thousand film and more than 84.6 thousand photo documents, not counting sound recordings and videos. This is truly invaluable material. Every year, the archives of the republic fulfill more than 40 thousand requests of a social-legal nature, coming from students, lawyers, and ordinary citizens who need to clarify or document something.
Archival work is an important, responsible, and necessary job.
AUGUST 31
INDEPENDENCE DAY OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
The Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, based on the “Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan” adopted on December 15, 1990, and guided by the Constitution (the Fundamental Law) of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan:
1. Declares the Republic of Kyrgyzstan an independent, sovereign democratic state.
2. The territory of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan is integral and indivisible, and only the Constitution of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan operates on it.
3. The Republic of Kyrgyzstan emphasizes its commitment to universally recognized principles of international law, is guided by the principles of friendship and cooperation among peoples, will strictly adhere to its obligations, avoiding confrontation in interregional and international relations, and advocates for the conclusion of a new Union Treaty of sovereign states on an equal basis.
4. Calls upon the parliaments of the union republics and the world community to recognize the independence of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
5. Entrusts the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to form a commission from among the people's deputies, scholars, and specialists for the qualified and prompt preparation of measures (including draft treaties ensuring the economic and political independence of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan), and submit them for consideration at the next session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan calls upon the people of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to unite on the basis of this Declaration in the name of transforming our state into a truly sovereign and lawful state. The Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, August 31, 1991.
From August 31, 1991, began the glorious countdown of the new chronology of free Kyrgyzstan, and this event grew into the main nationwide celebration – its Independence Day. In these years, Kyrgyzstan has been diligently building and affirming true democratic values, learning to live by civilized and moral standards, and moving towards cooperation with other states, actively integrating into the global community.
There have been achievements and gains, failures and missteps along this path, but the country is overcoming difficulties with dignity and continues unwaveringly with democratic transformations. Today, Kyrgyzstan, as an independent state, has taken its rightful place in the world community, and the people have managed to lay the foundations for a new Kyrgyzstan, giving them an irreversible, purposeful character. Kyrgyzstan confidently strides along the path of sovereign independent development, progress, and the well-being of its citizens.
S. Fiksin “To the Land of Kyrgyz”
You, like a mother, bending at the head,
Warm the snow of my gray hair.
It always seemed to me that with your love
I alone have the right to dispose.
So, in common parlance, it seems, everyone thought,
In whose heart you ignited your spark.
And you quenched the thirst of anyone,
Your warmth was enough for all.
And let your, though small, sea
A million times splash its wave
To the hearts of poets of different categories
And recede from us with a fresh line.
But only quietly,
Without thunder and rumblings, –
From them, the head always spins.
It is sinful to throw playful words
On the memorable land of Toktogul.
They will soar like fireworks over the garden,
Shattering each line in flight,
And at the same moment extinguish and settle,
Like gray chaff on the threshing floor.
No, you are not beautiful with that beauty,
Where fleeting calculation reigns,
Where the very Naryn flows in desired bends
Into the miserly pupil of the photographer.
Where the watercolor-bound couple
On the whitened walls of the teahouse
Surveys the sleepy argali,
Knocking boulders into the abyss.
Where the smoke of ails passes by me,
The shepherd's sadness over the sinewy string,
The walls spread under the moon –
All that once connected me
And forever left me with you.
But even on a moonless night, you do not fade,
And in the sweltering sweat of your face
You do not know the beginning and end of the day,
And life is praised
By the hearts of your akyns wide open.
AUGUST 31
NURKAMAL ZHETYKASHKAYEVA – 95 YEARS SINCE HER BIRTH
The name of the first Kyrgyz poetess Nurkamal Zhetykashkayeva (1918–1952) is associated with many remarkable pages in the history of the formation and development of Kyrgyz professional art and literature.
She was born in the village of Jilaymash in the present Sokuluk district in a peasant family. In 1933, she graduated from the workers' faculty in Frunze. Nurkamal was one of the first Kyrgyz girls to receive higher education in Moscow – from 1936 to 1941, she studied at the A.V. Lunacharsky Moscow State Institute of Theatre Arts.
After graduating from the institute, she worked as an actress in the Kyrgyz Drama Theater, a research associate at the Institute of Language, Literature, and History, and director of the Republican House of Folk Art. She began to publish in 1937. Her poetic works were initially published in the pages of republican newspapers and magazines. In 1949, her poem “Zhangan zhalyn” (“The Unquenchable Flame”) was published as a separate book, in 1951 – the poetry collection “Zhangyrgan olkomdo” (“In My New Country”), and two years later – the book of poems and verses “Nurkamal.”
Selected works of the poetess were published in 1969 and 1978 by Kyrgyzgosizdat, and in 1958, a collection of poems “I Am the Daughter of October” was released in Russian. The main themes of N. Zhetykashkayeva's work were love for her native land and labor. During the Great Patriotic War, she created a number of poems on patriotic themes. However, she also wrote lyrical poems, many of her verses were set to music and became folk songs. In 1952, when illness took N. Zhetykashkayeva (she was only 34 years old), her death was mourned as a great loss. And although the creative legacy of N. Zhetykashkayeva is not large, its influence on the development of Kyrgyz poetry and national literature as a whole is invaluable.
N. Zhetykashkayeva – “When I Remember You”
When I remember you,
I forget my worries.
And it seems easier
For me to work in these moments.
And the night does not seem eternal to me,
And the morning does not seem boring.
It would be great to walk through life
With you endlessly.
Dream, how delightful you are,
I even look happier…
I write poorly, dear,
But I can’t be silent at all.
Translation by M. Ronkin
OMUR UULU CHOYUKE – 150 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH
The creativity of manaschi is a contact with time, an unbreakable connecting thread with a distant past. Only through the medium of oral storytelling, thanks to manaschi, their dedication, and their selfless service to the preservation and transmission of the greatest spiritual creation of the Kyrgyz people, can we today connect with such a unique phenomenon as the epic “Manas.”
History has brought us the names of many great manaschi. One of them was manaschi Choyuke Omur uulu (1863–1925).
Choyuke was born in the area of Kara-Boltek at the eastern end of Lake Issyk-Kul into a poor family. He began to recite “Manas” at a mature age when he was already about 30 years old. Like all his predecessors, he explained the gift of storytelling as a prophetic dream. After traveling to Talas, he made a sacrifice at the mausoleum of Manas. After that, he began to recite “Manas” even better. The version of the epic “Manas” belonging to Choyuke contained the following episodes: the birth and childhood of Manas; the conspiracy of the khans; Kezkamany; the mourning for Koketey; the Great Campaign; the episode about the girl Saykal; the death of Manas; the construction of the mausoleum by Manas's wife Kanikey. The plot development of Choyuke's version has a traditional composition, which has now become classical. Choyuke inherited the performance of the epic from the famous manaschi Tynybek. The storytelling and manner of performance were then inherited by his brother Aziz, and then by Aziz's son Shaabay. The versions of Choyuke, his brother Aziz, and his nephew Shaabay represent a dynastic tradition that has survived to this day in the tale of Shaabay. It unites a whole historical line of the epic's existence, carrying with it a chain of the ancient tradition of storytelling. This tradition was continued by Sayakbay Karalaev, who had the fortune to listen to Choyuke himself and adopt his creative style.
Choyuke's repertoire also included other epic works – “Er Tehtyuk,” “Zhanish-Baish,” and others.