Abay Ibrahim Qunanbayuli (August 10, 1845 - July 5, 1904) was a
KazakhThe Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
poet, composer and philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultures on the basis of enlightened
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
.
Abay was born on what is today the city of
KaraulKaraul may refer to:*Karaul, Krasnoyarsk Krai, a village in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia*Karaul, name of several other rural localities in Russia...
, in
Abay DistrictAbay is a district of East Kazakhstan Province in eastern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is Karauyl.-References:...
,
East Kazakhstan ProvinceEast Kazakhstan Province is a province of Kazakhstan. It occupies the easternmost part of Kazakhstan, along both sides of the Irtysh River and Lake Zaysan. Its capital is Oskemen...
; the son of Qunanbay and Uljan, Qunanbay's second wife, they named him Ibrahim, but because of his brightness, he soon was given the nickname "Abay" (meaning "careful"), a name that stuck for the rest of his life.
Abay Ibrahim Qunanbayuli (August 10, 1845 - July 5, 1904) was a
KazakhThe Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
poet, composer and philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultures on the basis of enlightened
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
.
Early life and education
Abay was born on what is today the city of
KaraulKaraul may refer to:*Karaul, Krasnoyarsk Krai, a village in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia*Karaul, name of several other rural localities in Russia...
, in
Abay DistrictAbay is a district of East Kazakhstan Province in eastern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is Karauyl.-References:...
,
East Kazakhstan ProvinceEast Kazakhstan Province is a province of Kazakhstan. It occupies the easternmost part of Kazakhstan, along both sides of the Irtysh River and Lake Zaysan. Its capital is Oskemen...
; the son of Qunanbay and Uljan, Qunanbay's second wife, they named him Ibrahim, but because of his brightness, he soon was given the nickname "Abay" (meaning "careful"), a name that stuck for the rest of his life. His father's economic status enabled the boy to attend a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n school in his youth, but only after he had already spent some years studying at a
madrasahMadrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
under
MullahMullah/Mula/Molla is a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word mawla, meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
Ahmet Ryza. At his school in
SemipalatinskSemey , formerly known as Semipalatinsk and Alash-qala , is a city in Kazakhstan, in the northeastern province of East Kazakhstan, near the border with Siberia, around 1,000 km north of Almaty, and 700 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk, along the Irtysh River.-History:The first...
, Abay encountered the writings of
Mikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", was the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death. His influence on later Russian literature is still felt in modern times, not only through his poetry, but...
and Alexander Pushkin.
Contributions
Abay's main contribution to Kazakh culture and folklore lies in his poetry, which expresses great
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
and grew out of Kazakh folk culture. Before him, most Kazakh poetry was oral, echoing the
nomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
ic habits of the people of the Kazakh
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
s. During Abay's lifetime, however, a number of important socio-political and socio-economic changes occurred. Russian influence continued to grow in
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country situated in Eurasia that is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world. It is also the world's largest landlocked country. Its territory of 2,727,300 km² is greater than Western Europe...
, resulting in greater educational possibilities as well as exposure to a number of different philosophies, whether Russian, Western or Asian. Abay Qunanbayuli steeped himself in the cultural and philosophical history of these newly-opened geographies. In this sense, Abay's creative poetry affected the philosophical thinking of educated Kazakhs.
Legacy
The leaders of the
Alash OrdaAlash Orda was the name of the provisional Kazakh government between 13 December 1917 and 26 August 1920.The Alash Party proclaimed the autonomy of the Kazakh people in December 1917. Membership consists from 25 members and 15 member candidates...
movement saw him as their inspiration and spiritual predecessor.
Contemporary
KazakhThe Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
images of Abay generally depict him in full traditional dress holding a
dombraThe dombura are long-necked lutes popular in the Central Asian nations. The name arises from the originally Persian tanbur and the instrument shares some of its characteristics, varying from region to region, with the Turkic komuz...
(the Kazakh national instrument). Today, Kazakhs revere Abay as one of the first folk heroes to enter into the national consciousness of his people. Almaty State University is named after Abay, so is one of the main avenues in the city of Almaty.
Among Abay's students was his nephew, a historian, philosopher, and poet Shakarim Qudayberdiuli (1858-1931).
Statues of him have been erected in many cities of Kazakhstan, as well as in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
.
A film on the life of Abay was made by Kazakhfilm in 1995, titled
Abai. He is also the subject of two novels by
Mukhtar AuezovMukhtar Omarkhanuli Auezov was a prominent Soviet Kazakh writer, known best for his work as a playwright.-Life:...
, another Kazakhstani writer.
Works
Abay also translated into Kazakh the works of Russian and European authors, mostly for the first time. Translations made by him include poems by
Mikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", was the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death. His influence on later Russian literature is still felt in modern times, not only through his poetry, but...
,
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and polymath. Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, philosophy, humanism and science. Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama Faust...
,
Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Byron, later Noel, 6th Baron Byron, of Rochdale, FRS, and commonly known today as Lord Byron was an English poet and a leading figure in Romanticism...
,
Ivan KrylovIvan Andreyevich Krylov is Russia's best known fabulist. While many of his earlier fables were loosely based on Aesop and Jean de La Fontaine, later fables were original work....
's
Fables and Alexander Pushkin's
Eugene OneginEugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes. It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
.
Abay's major work is
The Book of Words , a philosophic treatise and collection of poems where he criticizes Russian colonial policies and encourages his fellow Kazakhs to embrace education and literacy to escape from colonial oppression.
External links