Today marks the 70th birthday of Bayangali Alimzhanov, a renowned figure in Kazakhstan, including a distinguished cultural worker, poet, playwright, and famous storyteller.
Bayangali Taqanuly was born on October 16, 1954, in the city of Stepnyak, Akmolinsk Region (formerly Kokshetau, Birzhan Sal District), into a family of ordinary workers. His father, Taqan Alimzhanov (1921-1996), participated in World War II, and his mother, Batima Abisheva (1918-1988), worked in a collective farm until retirement.
B. Alimzhanov graduated from the A. S. Pushkin Middle School in Stepnyak in 1971 and completed his studies at the Kazakh State University’s Faculty of Philology in 1977. Until 1987, he lived in Almaty.
He worked as a research worker at the Sabit Mukhanov Museum, as a correspondent for newspapers such as “Leninshil Zhas,” “Kitap Zharshysy,” and “Kazakh Adebieti,” as well as an editor in the documentary films and chronicles department at “Kazakhfilm” studio, and as an editor for the prose and criticism sections of the magazines “Baldyrgan” and “Zhuldyz.”
In 1987, he moved back to his native village of “Kenaishy” with his wife, Aliya Bakyshkyzy Alimzhanova (born 1962, medical worker), to care for his parents, and lived there for 11 years.
Bayangali served as a correspondent for the “Kokshetau Pravdasy” newspaper in the regions of Enegab, Ualikhanov, and Shchuchye, and worked as a spontaneous poet in the culture department of the Enegab District. After his parents passed away, he moved to Kokshetau in 1998 and worked as a stage master at the Shakhmet Khusainov Regional Kazakh Musical Drama Theater until 2001. From 2006 to 2014, he was the artistic director of the Pang Nurmagambet film studio.
Bayanqali Alimzhanov is the author of lyrical and philosophical poems, as well as nearly fifty poems and narrative poems. His works include “Auldyń ak samaly,” “Ańyz ben aspan,” and many collections about historical figures, which have been published in reputable magazines such as “Amanat,” “Zhuldyz,” “Tañ-Sholpan,” “Daraboz,” “Zhana Saryarka,” “Kokshetau,” “Qazaq Tarihy,” and “Geography,” as well as in the almanac “Zhidebay” and newspapers like “Egekmen Qazaqstan,” “Qazaq Adebieti,” “Ana Tili,” “Zaman Qazaqstan,” “Ayqyn,” “Zhas Qazaq Úni,” “Almaty Aqshamy,” “Arqa Azhary,” and “Zhas Aray.”
B. Alimzhanov’s poems have been included in the 10-volume anthology of Kazakh poetry titled “Jyr Marzhan” and the poem “Taxidegi Taǵdyrlar” is part of the 6-volume anthology “Qazaqtyn Jüz Poemasy.” He has written many song lyrics, with songs such as “Ghazhaýyp Kúy,” “Ómirlik Meniñ Serigim,” “Qazaqstan,” “Ókpeleme, Zhanım,” “Sen Eshqashan Ozgerme,” and others (music by Nurlan Alimzhanov) becoming widely recognized across the country. B. Alimzhanov also has poems for children, particularly well-known for his alphabet poems and tongue twisters. His works have been translated into Russian, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, German, Japanese, Turkish, Tatar, Bashkir, Udmurt, Uzbek, Mongolian, Uyghur, Karakalpak, and Kyrgyz languages.
