Today marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of Zhuban Moldagaliyev, the great epic poet engraved in the hearts of all Kazakhs with the words “I am a Kazakh.” He was a Laureate of the State Prize (1978) and honored as the People’s Writer of Kazakhstan (1985), reports Adyrna.
Zhuban Moldagaliyev was born in the Akkayak District of the Oral (Uralsk) Region. He graduated from the Oral Agricultural College and served in the army from 1940 to 1947, participating in the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
From 1948 to 1952, he worked at the Leninshil Zhas newspaper as section head, executive secretary, and deputy editor.
From 1952 to 1954, he was a literary consultant at the Writers’ Union of Kazakhstan, then served as deputy editor of Kazakh Adebieti newspaper (1955–1956), and later as editor-in-chief of Zhuldyz magazine (1957–1963).
Between 1963 and 1971, Moldagaliyev was a secretary of the Writers’ Union of Kazakhstan, and from 1973 to 1983, he served as secretary of the Writers’ Union of the USSR. From 1979 to 1983, he held the position of First Secretary of the Writers’ Union of Kazakhstan, after which he devoted himself entirely to creative work (1983–1988).
His first poem was published in 1939 in the regional newspaper Komsomol Urpagi. His first poetry collection, Songs of Victory, came out in 1949. Over the years, he published more than 60 books, including Nurly Zhol (Bright Road), Zhyr Turaly Zhyr (Song About Song), Gashyq Kozben (With Loving Eyes), Zaman Tynysy (The Breath of the Era), and Baikonyr Baspaldaktary (Steps of Baikonyr). His selected works have been published in one-, two-, and three-volume editions in both Kazakh and Russian.
His most famous work, the poem “I Am a Kazakh”, was published in 1964. After his death, a two-volume collection of his works was released. In 1970, he won the Kazakh SSR State Prize for his poem Kisen Ashkan (The Shackles Released), and in 1978, he received the USSR State Prize for his poems Kyran Dala (The Soaring Steppe) and Sel (The Flood).
He was also a laureate of the USSR Ministry of Defense Prize and the A. Fadeyev Gold Medal. His works have been translated into English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, Hungarian, Arabic, Mongolian, Slovak, and other languages.
For his contributions, Moldagaliyev was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, two Orders of the Patriotic War (2nd degree), the Order of the Badge of Honor, and several medals. In 1985, he was granted the honorary title “People’s Writer of the Kazakh SSR.”
