Saken Seifullin: photo, biography of Saken Seifullin in Russian

Kazakh writer Saken Seifullin is considered the founder of modern national literature of his country. He was a prominent figure in the Bolshevik Party and occupied important government posts in his native republic.

Origin

The date of birth of Saken Seifullin is October 15, 1894. The child was born in a nomadic aul in the territory of the then Akmola district. Today this territory belongs to the Karaganda region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. His real name, given at birth, was Sadvakas. Saken himself, the writer was called because of the fact that this gentle and simplified treatment at his house was used much more often and more willingly.

The boy was born into a family with a small income. His father was a musician and played on dombra, a national instrument of Kazakhs and Nogais. He loved hunting and breeding hunting species of birds. Saken's mother knew by heart all the local folklore and was a skilful narrator of fairy tales. Saken Seifullin from the earliest childhood surrounded by epic poems and epic poems, which were passed from mouth to mouth in his native village. Undoubtedly, this instilled in the boy an interest in literature, which in the future determined his fate - the fate of the famous national writer.

Childhood

At the age of 11, Saken Seifullin was sent to the nearest school, which was located at the Uspensky mine. My father wanted my son to learn Russian. There the boy spent three years. Later, the writer recalled that the children's impressions of the pictures of the hard working conditions of the miners were permanently imprinted in his memory.

Saken continued his education first in Akmolinsk, and then in Omsk. It was not without reason that the local seminary was called the Siberian University. It was a regional center of education and science. Higher educational institutions in that turbulent era always became places where bold political ideas took root.

Novice revolutionary and poet

Saken Seifullin could not fail to be advanced. Biography of the young man in 1914 was marked by two important events. Firstly, the beginning poet joined the revolutionary organization "Unity", consisting of Kazakh nationalists, and secondly, his first collection of poems "Past Days" was published at the same time.

In the political arena, Saken made progress. He made many speeches at secret meetings of revolutionaries and honed his art of the rhetorician. At the same time the young man came under the supervision of the tsarist secret police. In "Past days" the poet bitterly discussed the fate of his people. Saken did not like the poor state of most Kazakhs and the dominance of outdated patriarchal customs in the villages.

Witness of revolutions

In 1916, the Omsk Seminary was saying goodbye to the next generation of graduates, among whom was Saken Seifullin. A brief biography of the writer of that time is a typical example of a man of his education and position. The first year of his adult life he worked at the school.

After that, Saken moved to Akmolinsk. Then in Russia there were two revolutions. With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the writer supported the new order. He took the most active part in the organization and creation of the new Soviet of Workers 'and Peasants' Deputies in the city of Akmolinsk. In May 1918 the local Bolsheviks were overthrown by the Whites. Seifullin was taken prisoner. Supporters of Kolchak decided to move him to Omsk.

In captivity with whites

The captives of the Red were transported through Siberia in the so-called death wagons. Saken Seifullin also visited them. Photos of these eerie convoys going to concentration camps can now be found in museum expositions and history books. The half-dead prisoners were driving in the wind-driven wagons. Periodically they were tortured by whites. The civil war, of course, led to bitterness and brutality of the participants in both sides of the conflict.

The writer shared his bitter memories of those terrible days in one of his most famous books called The Stranglethorn. Seifullin, like other prisoners, received a ration only once every three days. Many also started dehydration, which the guards did not react at all. The poet managed to escape from the "death car" only thanks to a bold and even reckless escape.

Illuminator

In 1920, the writer returned to Akmolinsk. This city, like the one where Saken Seifullin was born, finally fell under the rule of the Bolsheviks. Restored documents and a physically strong young intellectual took a lively part in the construction of a new socialist country. In 1922 he was elected deputy of the People's Commissar of Education of the Kazakh Republic. But this post was only the beginning of his rapid state career.

Engaged in educating the people of his native country, Seifullin realized with particular acuteness its cultural decline. The writer again took up the study of the national language. He began writing articles and printing in local newspapers. At the same time the Bolsheviks at their Twelfth Congress decided that it was necessary to spread the Russian language in the remaining republics of the USSR.

Saken Seifullin could not reconcile himself to this state of affairs. He used a variety of levers. First, the writer published several categorical articles in which he publicly advocated that all office papers in Kazakhstan should have been conducted in the national language at the peak of the Bolshevik decision in Moscow. Secondly, already known throughout the country Sejfullin pressed the CEC with the help of his administrative resource. Thanks to this, on November 22, 1923, a historic decision was made. The CEC issued a decree, which enshrined the rule: Kazakh government securities were now to be conducted at the national, and not in Russian.

Creative zenith

In the late 20's and 30's, Seifullin was torn between his numerous deeds and writings. He was rector at several Kazakh universities. These posts the poet combined with the chair of the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Literary Front." Also Seifullin directly stood for the creation of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan.

Simultaneously with his administrative and journalistic duties, the poet did not forget about the most important thing - creativity. He published several more collections, and also began writing large-scale prose. In the early 30's came the novels "The Stranglethorn" and "Our Life", which was composed in the genre of bright and witty satire. Seifullin was extremely active and active for many years. Therefore it is not surprising that many years later compatriots began to call him the father of Kazakh Soviet literature.

Arrest and death

The biography of Saken Seifullin (in Russian, too, is a description of the life of this man) says that at the end of 1936 he was invited to Moscow as a famous public figure and writer for events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the death of Alexander Pushkin. Then the Kazakh poet was the first among his compatriots to receive the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. It seemed that Seifullin was experiencing his creative and social triumph.

However, already in 1937 he was arrested in Alma-Ata. The writer, like many other high-ranking Bolsheviks of the "first draft", fell into the millstone of repression unleashed by Stalin. Saken Seifullin was recognized as the "enemy of the people". Confessions from him were beaten with torture. On April 25, 1938, he was shot in one of the Alma-Ata prisons of the NKVD. The writer was rehabilitated in 1957, posthumously. Today he is one of the main national heroes and symbols of modern independent Kazakhstan.