125th anniversary of Mukhtar Auezov

Mukhtar Omarkhanovich Auezov is an outstanding Kazakh writer, playwright and scientist, Doctor of Philology, professor, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR (1946).

Mukhtar Auezov's creative career began in 1917 with the play "Enlik-Kebek", based on a folk legend about the tragic fate of two young people.

He is the author of such short stories as "Beauty in mourning", "Orphan's Share", "Who is to blame?", "Orphan", "Gray Fierce", the story "The Incident on Karash-Karash", the novel "Dashing Godina", the plays "Stone Plumage", "In the Apple Orchard", monographic research on the history of Kazakh and Kyrgyz literature and folklore. Many of these works revealed the problems of the Kazakh feudal society of that time.

The crowning achievement of his career was the four-volume epic novel "The Way of Abai", which brought the writer world fame. The novel has been translated into many languages of the world and entered the "Library of World Literature".

In 1945, in the year of the centenary of Abai, M.Auezov wrote the libretto of the opera "Abai" and the script of the feature film "Songs of Abai". In 1949, the first book of the epic – the novel "Abai" was awarded the USSR State Prize, in 1959 the book "The Way of Abai" was awarded the Lenin Prize.

In addition, the film "Fierce", based on the story of M. Auezov in 1973, directed by T.Okeev was nominated by the USSR for an Oscar.

Mukhtar Auezov became the first writer who contributed to the formation and development of the Kazakh style school with his creative works. Thanks to him, masterpieces of classical world literature, such as the plays "The Inspector" by N. Gogol, "Othello", "The Taming of the Shrew" by W. Shakespeare, "Spring Love" by K. Trenev were translated into Kazakh for the first time and became available to the public. The works of M. Auezov have been repeatedly republished and translated into many languages of the world.

The Institute of Literature and Art of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Academic Drama Theater, streets and schools in the cities of Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Semey, etc. are named after Mukhtar Auezov. The Auezov House-Museum operates in Almaty.

Monuments to the writer have been erected in all regions of the republic. Kazakh television has filmed a 12-episode documentary about the great writer (author A.Toibayev).

By UNESCO's decision, in 1997, the 100th anniversary of M. Auezov's birth was celebrated all over the world. This year, as part of the 125th anniversary of the founder, it is planned to hold more than 500 events, including more than 50 at the international level.