xxx/ellauri068.html on line 81: Zhambyl Zhabayuly (Kazakh: Жамбыл Жабайұлы, Jambyl Jabaıuly; 28 February 1846 — 22 June 1945) was a Kazakh traditional folksinger (Kazakh: akyn).
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 82: According to a family legend, his mother, Uldan, gave birth to him near Mt. Zhambyl, close to the headwaters of the Chu River while fleeing an attack on her village. His father, Dzhabay, then named his son after the mountain.
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 84: As a boy, Zhambyl learned how to play the dombura and at age 14, left his home to become an akyn. He learned the art of improvisation from the akyn Suyunbai Aronuly. Zhambyl sang exclusively in the Kazakh language.
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 85: Many patriotic, pro-revolution and pro-Stalin poems and songs were attributed to Zhambyl in the 1930s and were widely circulated in the Soviet Union.
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 88: The Kazakh city of Taraz was named after Zhambyl from 1938 to 1997. Jambyl Province, in which Taraz is located, still bears his name.
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 89: It has been claimed that the authors of Zhambyl's published poems were actually Russian poets, who were officially credited as "translators."
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 91: Poet Andrei Aldan-Semyonov claimed that he was the "creator" of Zhambyl, when in 1934, he was given the task by the Party to find an akyn. Aldan-Semenov found Zhambyl on the recommendation of the collective farm chairman, the only criterion of choice was that the akyn be poor and have many children and grandchildren. After Aldan-Semenov's arrest, other "translators" wrote Zhambyl's poems.
xxx/ellauri068.html on line 93: In a different account, according to the Kazakh journalist Erbol Kurnmanbaev, Zhambyl was an akyn of his clan, but until 1936 was relatively unknown. In that year, a young talented poet Abilda Tazhibaev "discovered" Zhambyl. He was directed to do this by the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, Levon Mirzoyan, who wanted to find an akyn similar to Suleiman Stalsky, the Dagestani poet. Tazhibaev then published the poem "My Country", under Jambyl's name. It was translated into Russian by the poet Pavel Kuznetsov, published in the newspaper "Pravda" and was a success. After that, a group of his "secretaries" - the young Kazakh poets worked under Jambyl's name. In 1941-1943, they were joined by the Russian poet Mark Tarlovsky.
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