Chingiz Aitmatov Bio
From 1956-58 Aitmatov lived in Moscow and worked for Pravda; one of the most influential papers in the Soviet Union and the official paper of the Communist party. While working at Pravda, Aitmatov published the first of many of his important works; publishing A difficult Passage in 1956, Face to Face in 1957, and Jamilia in 1958. In 1963 he published Tales of the Mountains and Steppes which gained him plenty of recognition and he was awarded the Lenin Prize for literature that same year. In 1968 he won the State Prize for his first novel Farewell Gyulsary, he would go on to win the prize again in 1977 and 1983. In the early 1970s Aitmatov began writing his works originally in Russian and also ventured into the performing arts with his contributions to the play The Ascent of Mount Fuji which was first performed in 1973. It was considered very provocative in Soviet Russia as it featured and examined themes of authority and dissent. In 1981 he would publish The Day Lasts Longer than a Hundred Years narrative seemingly inspired by his own life: the main character, a young man at university is forced to shoulder the burdens of his family when his father is shamefully (and wrongfully) charged and taken away. Meanwhile the protagonist also struggles with his own identity; torn between the culture of his native country and the constructed ideal of the “Soviet Man”. In addition to this hardship this clash of cultures and traditions is no doubt a conflict Aitmatov himself experienced; Aitmatov himself had to hold his family together at the age of 9 when his own father was taken away. This novel also would heavily influence the film Mankurt released in 1990 and written by his second wife Mariya Urmatova. He lived in Kazan at the time the filming was taking place in the city. Interestingly he actually coined the term Mankurt to mean a Central Asian who opts to become this new “Soviet person,” the term is now used derisively by Central Asians. Aitmatov continued to write even though he became busy with a political career and some of his short stories became widely available in English translation when they were featured in the 1989 collections Piebald Dog Running Along the Shore, and Other Stories and Mother Earth, and Other Stories. His novels covered many themes including love and friendship, heroism in wartime, and the emancipation of Kyrgyz youth from restrictive tradition; drawing from his own experiences with Kyrgyzstan’s dissolution and working for the Village Soviet during war-times. The messages of Aitmatov’s novels evolved to fit the times. His final novel "When the Mountains Fall Down: The Eternal Bride”, published in 2005, had environmental themes: encouraging the mindful preservation of nature, and making an appeal to his fellow countrymen to protect the Celestial Mountains of his home country.
Aitmatov began his political career in 1966 when he became a member of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. A year later in 1967 he would also become a member of the Executive Board of The Writers’ Union of the U.S.S.R. Perhaps in reaction to his own father's arrest and subsequent death, Aitmatov’s specific political views were not so strongly displayed, at least in his earlier life. Though the USSR’s absorption of Kyrgyzstan was greatly disruptive to Aitmatov’s native country, his novels, often in the genre of Soviet Realism, captured the Soviet experience with honesty and avoided outright or too overt criticisms of the Soviet government. Perhaps it was this sense of caution he took throughout his political career that appealed to Mikhail Gorbachev when he decided to make Aitmatov one of his advisors as he became President of the U.S.S.R. Aitmatov would also serve as the Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg. After the breakup of the Soviet Union he continued his ambassadorship this time being the Kyrgyz ambassador to the European Union as well as many other European countries. He would eventually serve as a member of parliament in Kyrgyzstan. Himself and his writings were quite widely respected even in disparate political circles. Politicians of all parties from his native country of Kyrgyzstan sought his public support.When he died in Nurnberg, Germany on June 10th 2008, his death was mourned by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the current Russian President Vladimir Putin alike, and even his critics acknowledged the quality of his novels.
Aitmatov’s life was uniquely positioned in time; he was able to chart the decline of Kyrgyzstan and losses in Central Asian culture with the take-over of the Soviet Union and the following collapse of the Soviet Union itself. He then participated in the resurrection of his own home country and other Central Asian States; Aitmatov helped represent his country as an ambassador to the European Union and NATO among others, and on the world stage with his writing.
Although he wasn’t so direct in his criticisms of the Soviet Union, his novels often had other themes of social and political activism. In his most popular novel, “Jamila”, he confronts the discrepancies in the traditional treatment of women in Central Asian Society. The novel raises issues of discrimination, denial of education, and mistreatment with a strong female protaginist at the center. This, and other societal commentary, stem from Aitmatov’s deep-seated love for all of humanity; he believed in a “love that wishes all who have been born on this planet happiness and freedom.” and that “No ideology or national structure is more important than this.” This message in all his books is perhaps the reason he was so widely appreciated.
A fuller perspective on his life philosophies is perhaps better communicated by the following quote:
"The responsibility of a writer is to bring forth words that capture, through painful personal experience, people's suffering, pain, faith and hope. This is because a writer is charged with the mission of speaking on behalf of his fellow human beings. Everything that happens in the world is happening to me personally.” - Aitmatov
He always held human dignity in the highest regard and served the Kyrgyz people throughout his life. His attitudes towards the human experience are evident in his work based on the progression past restrictive tradition and the trials and heroism of war.
Bibliography
Balski, G. Directory of Eastern European Film-Makers and Films 1945-1991. Flicks Books, 1992
‘Chingiz Aytmatov | Kyrgyz Author’. Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chingiz-Aytmatov.
“Death Of A Modern Hero.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 23 June 2008, www.rferl.org/a/1144589.html.
“Prominent Russians: Chinghiz Aitmatov.” Chinghiz Aitmatov – Russiapedia Literature Prominent Russians, 11 June 2008, russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/literature/chinghiz-aitmatov/.
