Magzhan Zhumabayev (,

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

: ''Mağjan Jūmabaev''), (25 June 1893 – 19 March 1938) was a Kazakh poet and writer who revolutionized the

Kazakh language Kazakh is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia by Kazakhs. It is closely related to Nogai, Kyrgyz and Karakalpak. It is the official language of Kazakhstan, and has official status in the Altai Republic of Russia ...

Biography

He was born in 1893 into a Kazakh

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family in modern-day

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

and was given the name Muhammedjan Jumabayev at birth. For much of his childhood, Muhammedjan was exposed to Islamic poetry as his family was deeply religious. In his teenage years, he shortened his name from "Muhammedjan" to "Magjan". From 1905 until 1910, Muhammedjan (or Magjan hereafter) Jumabayev studied in a madrasah in the town of

Petropavl Petropavl ( ; ) is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. Petropavl is about from Kökşetau, northwest of the national cap ...

, where he learned the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

, and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

languages. In 1911, He moved away from his home town and attended a

madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning ...

in the city of Ufa, where he learned under the

Volga Tatar The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars (; ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of western Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. ...

classical writer Ğalimcan İbrahimof. In 1912 he began writing Kazakh poetry with the pen name "Şolpan". His poetry was written in the Kazakh language, which used the

Arabic alphabet The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicase, unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most ...

at the time. Within just a year, Magjan's works became highly popular among Kazakh intellectuals. During the summer and winter of 1917 he began taking part in the creation of Kazakh "Alash" party and Alaş Orda, a coalition of Kazakh nationalists who wanted a new national government that promoted

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and was independent from their Russian overlords. Magjan was present at both All-Kazakh congresses as a delegate of Akmolinsk Oblast. Magjan moved back and forth between

and Ufa before finally settling in the Russian capital of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. While living there, he translated the works of

Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of ...

Koltsov Koltsov (; masculine) or Koltsova (; feminine) is a common Russian surname. It derives from the Russian nickname "Koltso" ().Никонов В. А. "Словарь русских фамилий".Кольцов Сост. Е. Л. Крушельниц� ...

, Balmont,

Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky ( rus, Дми́трий Серге́евич Мережко́вский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪrʲɪˈʂkofskʲɪj; – December 9, 1941) was a Russian novelist, poet, religious thinke ...

Ivanov Ivanov, Ivanoff or Ivanow (masculine, , Sometimes the stress is on Ива́нов in Bulgarian if it is a middle name, or in Russian as a rare variant of pronunciation), or Ivanova (feminine, , ) is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bu ...

Mamin-Sibiriak Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak (; October 25, 1852 – November 2, 1912) was a Russian writer. He is most well known for his novels and short stories about life in the Ural Mountains. Biography Early life Mamin-Sibiryak was born in Vis ...

Maksim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an auth ...

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...

and other poets into

, Kazakh,

, and

. After finishing his higher education in 1927, he returned to his hometown in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

to work as teacher.

Arrest

Because of the unfair accusation of being a

Pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism () or Turkism () is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), South Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey) ...

member of Alaş Orda and a Japanese spy, Jumabayev was arrested in

and convicted for the 10-year deprivation of liberty. Until his court date he had been staying in

Butyrka prison Butyrskaya prison (), usually known simply as Butyrka ( rus, Бутырка, p=bʊˈtɨrkə), is a prison in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow, Russia. In Imperial Russia it served as the central transit prison. During the Soviet Uni ...

, and later was sent to

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

and Arkhangelsk Oblast. In 1934

and Peshkova received a letter from him and due to their intervention Magjan Jumabayev was emancipated before the appointed time. However, just half a year later he was arrested in

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

again and executed by shooting of

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

on 19 March 1938.

Legacy

Streets in

Kokshetau Kokshetau (; , ; rus, Кокшета́у, p=kəkʂɛ'taʊ; ), formerly known as Kokchetav (; ) between 1868 and 1993, is a lakeside city in northern Kazakhstan and the capital of Akmola Region. It stretches along the southern shore of Lak ...

and Petropavlovsk are named after the poet.

Magzhan Zhumabayev District Magzhan Zhumabayev (, ) is a district of North Kazakhstan Region in northern Kazakhstan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Bulayevo. Population: The district was renamed in 2000 after Kazakh writer and poet Magzhan Zhum ...

was also named after him. On May 28, 2013, the

National Bank of Kazakhstan The National Bank of Kazakhstan is the central bank of Kazakhstan. History The National Bank of Kazakhstan was established on the basis of the Kazakh Republican Bank of the State Bank of the USSR (since 1990, the State Bank of the Kazakh SSR; ...

issued a commemorative coin in honor of the 120th anniversary of Magzhan Zhumabayev. On February 21, 2018, a monument to Magzhan Zhumabayev was unveiled in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. On June 24, 2018, a monument was unveiled in Petropavlovsk in honor of the 125th anniversary of the great writer, poet Magzhan Zhumabayev. The author is the Kazakh sculptor Edige Rakhmadiev. On June 25, 2018,

Kazpost Kazpost () is the national postal service of Kazakhstan. History Independent Kazakhstan 150px, 50-kopeck stamp of 1992, Kazakhstan's first stamp after independence Since 1992, Kazakhstan is a member of the Universal Postal Union. April 5, 199 ...

issued commemorative postage stamps for the 125th anniversary of the poet.

Films

# 1990 — "Мағжан»" Mağjan (Documentary) " Kazakhtelefilm" film director Kalila Umarov.

Documentaries

# 2019 —
Mağjan Cumabay
Köklerin İzinde (Documentary) TRT Avaz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhumabayev, Magzhan 1893 births 1938 deaths Kazakh-language writers Great Purge victims from Kazakhstan People from Akmola Region Executed Kazakhstani people Muslims from the Russian Empire