Kazakhstani renowned writer, playwright, and screenwriter Akim Tarazi passed away at the age of 92. The sad news was shared by poet Baurzhan Karagizuly on social media, reports the Adyrna national portal.
Akim Urtaiuly Ashimov (Akim Tarazi) was born on September 9, 1933, in Almaty.
Akim Tarazi’s novels, such as “Tasyarghan”, “Korkaý Zhuldyz”, “Sher”, “Qiyanat”, “Mustafa Shokay”, “Moscow – Balasaz”, as well as his short stories, essays, and novellas like “Aul Shetindegi Uy”, “Taz”, “Mahabbat Zhiry”, “Kök Aspanda Qyragy Köz Bar”, and others, have been published. His 12-volume collected works were also presented in May 2023.
Films based on Akim Tarazi’s screenplays, such as “Tulpardyn Izi”, “Arman – Ataman”, “Karash-Karash Oqigasy”, “Mustafa Shokay”, and “Kyzzhylaqan”, have entered the “golden collection” of Kazakh cinema.
His plays, including “Kulmeytin Komediya”, “Zhaksy Kisi”, “Zholy Bolghysh Zhigit”, “Akyn, Perishte, Mahabbat”, “Indet”, “Makhambet”, “Lainer”, “Ukili Zhuldiz”, “Kyz Mahabbaty”, and others, have been staged in theaters across the country. Many of his works have been translated into Russian, Chinese, Polish, Bulgarian, and English.
Akim Tarazi translated N.Ya. Bichurin’s “Sobraniye svedeniy o narodakh, obitavshikh v Sredney Azii v drevnie vremena” (A Collection of Information on the Peoples Who Lived in Central Asia in Ancient Times) and “Istoriya pervykh chetyrekh khanov iz doma Chingizova” (The History of the First Four Khans from the Chinggisid Dynasty), as well as F. Rabelais’ “Gargantua and Pantagruel” into Kazakh.
He was awarded the Order of Kurmet in 1994, named “Honored Worker of Kazakhstan” in 1997, and became a laureate of the State Prize of Kazakhstan in 2002. In 2011, he was awarded the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize in Prague. That same year, his novel “Korkaý Zhuldyz” was published in English in the UK. In 2015, he was awarded the Order of Otan, and in 2021, he received Kazakhstan’s highest honor for achievements in art and literature – the title of “Labor Hero of Kazakhstan”.
