Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov ( av, ХӀамзатазул Расул ХӀамзатил вас, Ħamzatil Rasul Ħamzatil vas, ; russian: Расу́л Гамза́тович Гамза́тов, p=rɐˈsul ɡɐmˈzatəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐmˈzatəf, a=Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov.ru.vorb.oga; 8 September 19233 November 2003) was a popular

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n poet who wrote in Avar language. Among his poems was '' Zhuravli'', which became a well-known

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

song.

Life

Gamzatov was born on 8 September 1923 in the Avar village of

Tsada Tsada (earlier (before 1985) written Tsadha) is a relatively big village 8 km North of Paphos city center. Although the proximity between them, the 612 m elevation difference gives to the Tsada area a totally different identity. It re ...

in the north-east

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. His father, Gamzat Tsadasa, was a well-known bard, heir to the ancient tradition of minstrelsy still thriving in the mountains. He was eleven when he wrote his first verse about a group of local boys who ran down to the clearing where an airplane had landed for the first time. A number of different poems by him also became songs, such as ''Gone Sunny Days''. In 1939 he graduated from Pedagogical College. He had various jobs serving as a school teacher, an assistant director in the theater, a journalist in newspapers and a radio host. From 1945 to 1950 he studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute. Gamzatov was awarded the

State Stalin Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

in 1952, The Lenin Prize in 1963, and Laureate Of The International Botev Prize in 1981. Gamzatov died on November 3, 2003 at the age of 80 in the

Moscow Central Clinical Hospital The Central Clinical Hospital of the Administrative directorate of the President of the Russian Federation (russian: Центральная клиническая больница c поликлиникой Управления делами Пре ...

. He was buried in the old Muslim cemetery in

Tarki Tarki ( kum, Таргъу, Tarğu; russian: Тарки́) formerly also spelled Tarkou and also known as Tarku, is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of Sovetsky City District of the City of ...

, next to the grave of his wife. A monument to Gamzatov was unveiled on 5 July 2013 on Yauzsky Boulevard in central Moscow.

Honours and awards

* Hero of Socialist Labour (27 September 1974) *

Order of St. Andrew The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

(8 September 2003) - for outstanding contribution to the development of national literature and public activities *

Order of Merit for the Fatherland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, 3rd class (18 April 1999) - for outstanding contribution to the multinational culture of Russia * Order of the Friendship of Peoples (6 September 1993) - for outstanding contribution to the development of the multinational Soviet literature and productive social activities * Four

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

, four times *

Order of Peter the Great Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius The Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius is an award conferred by the Republic of Bulgaria. History It has had three incarnations : * first on 18 May 1909 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria, * second on 13 December 1950 by the People's Republic of Bulga ...

(Bulgaria) * Lenin Prize (1963) - for the book "High Star" *

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

, third class (1952) - a collection of poems and the poems "The year of my birth" * State Prize of the RSFSR, Gorky (1980) - for the poem "Take care of mothers' * People's Poet of Daghestan * International Award for "Best Poet of the 20th century" * Writers Award in Asia and Africa "Lotus" * Jawaharlal Nehru Award * Ferdowsi Award * Award of Hristo Botev * International Prize Sholokhov in art and literature * Award Lermontov * Award Fadeeva * Award Batyr * Award Mahmoud * C. Award Stalskiy * G. Award Tsadasy * Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia)

References

External links

*http://www.gamzatov.ru - Official site, coordinated by Ministry of national politics, information and foreign affairs of Dagestan (in Russian and in English).
Gamzatov poetry
*http://gazeta.ru/2003/11/03/umerrasulgam.shtml - Necrology at http://gazeta.ru (in Russian) *https://web.archive.org/web/20040707115614/http://www.dagpravda.ru/ob/rasul01-11-03.htm - Obituary in "Dagestanskaja Pravda" (in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamzatov, Rasul 1923 births 2003 deaths People from Khunzakhsky District Avar people Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Soviet poets Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers Russian male poets Poets from Dagestan Heroes of Socialist Labour Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Lenin Prize winners Maxim Gorky Literature Institute alumni