Aytmatov, Chingiz

▪ 2009

Chingiz Torekulovich Aytmatov 

      Kyrgyz author and diplomat

born Dec. 12, 1928, Sheker, Kirgiz A.S.S.R. [now Kyrgyzstan], U.S.S.R.

died June 10, 2008, Nürnberg, Ger.

explored such themes as love and friendship, the trials and heroism of wartime, and the emancipation of Kyrgyz youth from restrictive custom and tradition; he was awarded the Soviet state prize for literature in 1968, 1977, and 1983. Aytmatov's literary career started in 1952, and in 1959 he began writing for the newspaper Pravda. He achieved major recognition (and the Lenin Prize) for the short story collection Povesti gor i stepey (1963; Tales of the Mountains and Steppes). Among Aytmatov's most important Kyrgyz-language works are Trudnaya pereprava (1956; “A Difficult Passage”), Pervy uchitel (1967; “The First Teacher”), and Proshchay, Gulsary! (1967; Farewell, Gulsary!). His novels written originally in Russian include I dolshe veka dlitsia den (1981; The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years), Plakha (1986; The Place of the Skull), and Tavro Kassandry (1995; “The Mark of Cassandra”). He also co-wrote, with Kaltai Mukhamedzhanov, Voskhozhdenie na Fudziyamu (1973; The Ascent of Mount Fuji), a play considered provocative during the Soviet era for its examination of the themes of authority and dissent. Aytmatov was a member (1966–89) of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. and an adviser (1990–91) to Soviet Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev, and he also served as Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg and Belgium. After Kyrgyzstan gained independence (1991), Aytmatov served in the Kyrgyz diplomatic corps and as a member of the parliament.

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▪ Kyrgyz author

Aytmatov also spelled  Aitmatov 

born Dec. 12, 1928, Sheker, Kirgiz A.S.S.R., U.S.S.R. [now in Kyrgyzstan]

died June 10, 2008, Nürnberg, Ger.

      author, translator, journalist, and diplomat, best known as a major figure in Kyrgyz and Russian literature.

      Aytmatov's father was a Communist Party official executed during the great purges directed by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (Stalin, Joseph) in the late 1930s. Aytmatov's literary career started in 1952, and in 1959 he began writing for Pravda as the newspaper's correspondent in the Kirgiz S.S.R. He achieved major recognition with the collection of short stories Povesti gor i stepey (1963; Tales of the Mountains and Steppes), for which he was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1963. Although Aytmatov composed in both Russian and Kyrgyz, many of his works, which are predominantly long short stories and novellas, were originally written in the latter language. Major themes in these works are love and friendship, the trials and heroism of wartime, and the emancipation of Kyrgyz youth from restrictive custom and tradition.

      Among Aytmatov's most important works are Trudnaya pereprava (1956; “A Difficult Passage”), Litsom k litsu (1957; “Face to Face”), Jamila (1958; Eng. trans. Jamilia), Pervy uchitel (1967; “The First Teacher”), Proshchay, Gulsary! (1967; Farewell, Gulsary!), and Bely parokhod (1970; The White Ship, also published as The White Steamship ). Subsequent novels, written originally in Russian, include I dolshe veka dlitsya den (1981; The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years), which blends Central Asian folklore traditions with science fiction, as well as Plakha (1986; The Place of the Skull) and Tavro Kassandry (1995; “The Mark of Cassandra”). He also cowrote, with Kaltai Mukhamedzhanov, Voskhozhdenie na Fudziyamu (first performed 1973; The Ascent of Mount Fuji), a play considered provocative during the Soviet era for its examination of the themes of authority and dissent. Many of Aytmatov's stories appear in English translation in Piebald Dog Running Along the Shore, and Other Stories (1989) and Mother Earth, and Other Stories (1989).

      Aytmatov was made a member of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. in 1966. In 1967 he became a member of the Executive Board of the Writers' Union of the U.S.S.R., and he was awarded the Soviet State Prize for literature in 1968, 1977, and 1983. He served as an adviser to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (Gorbachev, Mikhail) and as the Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg. From the 1990s Aytmatov was the Kyrgyz ambassador to the European Union and several European countries. He also served as a member of parliament in Kyrgyzstan.

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