91 years since the birth of Mukagali Makataev
This year, fans of Mukagali Makatayev's work celebrate the 91st birthday of the Kazakh lyricist.
Mukagali Suleimenovich Makataev was born on February 9th, 1931, in the village of Karasaz, Rayymbek district of the Almaty region.
There are 2 versions of the poet's birthday. However, according to the documents, it is celebrated on February 9th. According to other information, the mother of the poet Nagiman apa said the following: “My Mukagali was born on March 8th, 1931. It is impossible to make a mistake, because some time after my child came to this material world, we were sitting in anticipation of the Nauryz holiday and going to cook Nauryz kozhe.”
When Mukagali was 10 years old, his father went to the front and in 1941 died a heroic death in the Battle of Kaliningrad. The poet, who was spending his childhood during the most bitter years of the war, wrote a poem “Nedі senin ansaimyn bala step by step?” There he describes his sadness and resentment.
In 1948, the very first poems of the poet were published. Abdilda Tazhibaev, the one who was the first to highly appreciate his first steps into the literary world, says the following words: “Is it possible not to be proud of catching up with the youth, which is more persistent and purposeful than yourself?”. While Sabit Mukanov called Mukagali "Kazakh Balzac", Sherkhan Murtaza said "Mukagali is a poet who hated loneliness, hypocritical sycophancy, speculation in literature, bribery and malignity with all his body and soul." Bauyrzhan Momyshuly expressed his thoughts with the words: "Mukagali is also worthy of being a people's mentor", and the poet Yerkin Ibitanov equates him with the Tien Shan.
Mukagali not only composed poems, but also did translate works of world classic writers. For example, he made the “Hell” part of the “Divine Comedy”, Shakespeare’s “sonnets” and others in our native language. Taking as a basis optimistic thoughts about the life and fate of Mozart, the poet writes the work "Mozart. Requiem". The total number of lyrical poems exceeds 650. The poet's works have been translated into Russian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, English, Turkish, Chinese, and German. In 2015, a collection of his poems was released in New York, USA.
According to a considerable number of his poems, songs were written, which became widespread among the people. His poems, such as "Saryzhailau", "Sonbeydi azhe, shyragyn", "Kel, Erkem, Alatauyn", translated into a musical way and left as a legacy, People's Artist of the USSR and a hero - Nurgisa Tlendiev. In addition, the song "Esine meni algaisin" won the hearts of many.
On the 60th anniversary of the poet, on July 4th, 1991, a literary and memorial museum named after Mukagali Makatayev was opened in his homeland - in the village of Karasaz.
"Kazakhfilm" named after Shaken Aimanov, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, filmed the movie "Mukagali". The author's work under the direction of director Bolat Kalymbetov was shown in all cinemas of Kazakhstan from October 21st, 2021.
In addition, timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the poet, the historical series “Mukagali. Bul gasyrdan emespin”, filmed by the national TV channel “Qazaqstan”, will be shown to viewers on February 5th, 6th, 2022.
Author: Moldir Adamzhan
Translator-editor: Chingiz Smakov
Photos: from the archives of press services