Chingiz Aitmatov
Chingiz Aitmatov was a prominent Kyrgyz writer born in the village of Sheker, Kyrgyzstan. His early life coincided with Kyrgyzstan's transformation into a Soviet republic, and he was deeply influenced by the rich Kyrghizian traditions. Aitmatov's father, a leading Communist official, was executed during Stalin's purges, a traumatic event that marked Aitmatov's formative years. He began his career in writing while working various jobs, including as a stockbreeder and editor, eventually gaining recognition for his literary contributions, notably through his celebrated work "Jamila," which earned him the Lenin Prize in 1963.
Aitmatov's novels often addressed sensitive issues, critiquing local Communist practices while resonating with the cultural heritage of Kyrgyz people. His later works explored themes of religion, ecology, and human values, pushing the boundaries of permitted discourse in the Soviet era. Besides his literary achievements, Aitmatov held significant political roles, including being a cultural advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev and serving as ambassador for Kyrgyzstan. Due to his profound influence on Kyrgyz culture and democracy, Aitmatov is often regarded as a foundational figure in the nation’s history and literature. He remains celebrated as one of the major novelists from the former Soviet Union and a key figure in Kyrgyzstan's development.
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Chingiz Aitmatov
Author
- Born: December 12, 1928
- Birthplace: Sheker, Soviet Union (now in Kyrgyzstan)
- Died: June 10, 2008
Biography
Chingiz Aitmatov was born in the village of Sheker in Kyrgyzstan, the son of Torkeful Aitmatovich and Nagima Khamzaevna. He grew up with the Kyrghizian traditions, but most of his childhood was during Kyrgyzstan’s transformation into a modern republic of the Soviet Union. He learned the Russian language from his parents, who were highly educated civil servants. Although Aitmatov’s father was one of Kyrgyzstan’s leading Communist officials, in 1937 he was arrested and executed during one of the purges of Joseph Stalin.
Because of the mobilization of men during World War II, at age fourteen Aitmatov became assistant to the secretary of the Village Soviet, a post he held until 1952. In 1951, he married Keres Shamshibaev, a physician with whom he had three sons and one daughter. During these years, Aitmatov studied veterinary medicine, worked as a stockbreeder, and began to publish stories. He gained admission to the Gorky Institute in Moscow in 1956, where he took advanced courses in literature.
After graduation in 1958, Aitmatov became editor-in-chief of Literary Kyrghis, director of the Kyrghizian Film Association, and a correspondent for Pravda. He also published Jamila, which depicted Kyrgyz culture within the context of modern times. One of the best-known works of Soviet literature, Jamila was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1963. In 1959, Aitmatov joined the Communist Party, even though Farewell Gulsary!, his next novel, depicted the cruelty and corruption of local Kyrgyz Communists. Despite its critiques of communism, this novel won the Soviet State Prize for literature, and Aitmatov soon became not only a major cultural figure but also a writer with a wide readership. Between 1967 and 1983, Aitmatov became a member of Executive Board of the Soviet Writers Union, won another State Prize, and was named a Hero of Socialist Labor.
Divorced from his first wife, Aitmatov married Maria Urmatov in 1981. Always pushing beyond the limits of permissible discourse, a year earlier he had published The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years, which addressed such taboo topics as drug trafficking and ecological destruction. In 1986 Aitmotov published another major novel, The Place of the Skull, whose affirmation of religious values created a sensation in the officially atheistic Soviet Union. In 1994, Aitmatov continued to pursue the theme of religion in Tavro Cassandra, which featured a monk in outer space.
In the mid-1980’s, Aitmatov was elected to the Soviet parliament, where he met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who became a close friend and for whom he acted as a cultural adviser. Gorbachev later appointed him to a presidential council, where he mediated conflicts between the country’s various nationalities. In 1990 he became the Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg and, in 1993, Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He made his home in Brussels and also became a member of Kyrgyzstan’s parliament. Throughout this time, Aitmatov was also given prestigious literary posts and important international and domestic literary awards. Because of his contribution to the founding of a democratic Kyrgyzstan, Aitmatov is sometimes referred to as the father of his nation. A legendary figure throughout a thirty-year career, he stands as one of the major novelists of both the former Soviet Union and his newly independent homeland.