10 August 1845–6 July 1904
Abai Kunanbaiuly, also Abay Qunanbaiuly; birth name Ibrahim
Abai Kunanbaiuly · 哈萨克斯坦
19th-century Kazakh poet, thinker, composer, and enlightener, founder of Kazakh written literature.
Born on 10 August 1845 in the Semipalatinsk region (now eastern Kazakhstan, around Abai Region), into an aristocratic family, he studied successively at a madrasa and a Russian school. He wrote about 170 poems and the prose collection *Words of Edification* (Qara Sözder), translated Pushkin, Lermontov, Krylov, Goethe, Byron, and others into Kazakh, advocated schooling, honest labour, opposition to corruption and bride purchase, and called for greater equality for women. He died in 1904 and was buried in Zhidebai. In 1995 his 150th birth anniversary was commemorated under UNESCO auspices.
People & stories
Places in their life
Birthplace the Chinggis mountain area of the Semipalatinsk region; places of activity Semey (now Semey) and Abai's homeland; burial place Zhidebai.
People
Cultural significance
One of the source figures of Kazakh national literature and modern national consciousness; the Alash movement generation regarded him as a spiritual pioneer; 10 August each year is "Abai Day" in Kazakhstan.