Gennadiy Nikolayevich Aygi ( rus, Генна́дий Никола́евич Айги́, p=ɡʲɪˈnadʲɪj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ ɐjˈɡʲi, a=Gyennadiy Nikolayevich Aygi.ru.vorb.oga, ; 21 August 1934 – 21 February 2006) was a Russian poet and a translator. His poetry is written both in Chuvash and in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. He was born in the village of Shaimurzino (Çĕnyal),

Chuvashia Chuvashia, officially known as Chuvash Republic — Chuvashia, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is the homeland of the Chuvash people, a Turkic languages, Turkic ethnic group. Its capital city, capital i ...

(

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

), moved to Moscow in 1953 and stayed there for the rest of his life. Aygi started writing poetry in the

Chuvash language Chuvash ( , ; , , ) is a Turkic languages, Turkic language spoken in European Russia, primarily in the Chuvashia, Chuvash Republic and adjacent areas. It is the only surviving member of the Oghur languages, Oghur branch of Turkic languages ...

in 1958. Among the recognitions he has won are the

Andrey Bely Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev (, ; – 8 January 1934), better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely, was a Russian novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist and literary critic. He was a committed anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. His ...

Prize (1987), the Pasternak Prize (2000, the first to be awarded this), the Prize of the French Academy (1972), the

Petrarch Prize Petrarca-Preis was a European literary and translation award named after the Italian Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch. Founded in 1975 by German art historian and publisher Hubert Burda, it was primarily designed for contemporary ...

(1993), the Golden Wreath of the

Struga Poetry Evenings Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) (, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most ...

in 1994 and the Jan Smrek Prize (Bratislava, Slovakia). In 2003 Aygi participated in th
"international literature festival berlin"
.

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Modernism (music), modernist Holy minimalism, sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous Chamber music, chamber, Orchestra, orch ...

set several of his poems to music in her cycle ''Jetzt immer Schnee'' ("Now always snow"). His son Aleksey Aygi is a composer.

References

External links

Month-long tribute to Aygi
essay and collection of links
Interview with Aygi's friend and translator Peter France
at New Directions Folk poets of Chuvashia Russian male poets Russian surrealist writers Surrealist poets Chuvash-language poets Velimir Khlebnikov scholars 1934 births 2006 deaths Chuvash writers Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates 20th-century Russian poets People from Batyrevsky District 20th-century Russian male writers Maxim Gorky Literature Institute alumni {{Russia-poet-stub