Majit Gafuri (, ; , ; ; 20 July O.S. 8 July">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>

O.S. 8 July188028 October 1934) was a Bashkirs">Bashkir and Tatars">Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

poet, writer, and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the democratic trend in Tatar literature and one of the founders of national children's literature.

Biography

Gufari was born to a Tatar-speaking teacher family, in the village of Zilim-Karanovo (now

Gafuriysky District Gafuriysky District (; , ''Ğafuri rayonı'') is an administrativeConstitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Article 64 and municipalLaw #126-z district (raion), one of the fifty-four in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. It is locat ...

Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...

). At an early age, he showed an aptitude for teaching and in 1893 his father arranged for him to study at a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

in a neighboring village. In 1898, he entered the in

Troitsk Troitsk (, ''Tróick'') is the name of several types of inhabited localities in Russia, inhabited localities in Russia. Modern localities ;Urban localities *Troitsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast; *Troitsk, Moscow, a town in Tro ...

, where he studied until 1905. During his spare time, Gafuri worked in Zakir Ramiev's gold mines and taught Kazakh children on the steppe. In 1905, he studied at the famous

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Möxämmädiä madrasa and then, in 1906, at the Ğäliä madrasa in Ufa. He remained in Ufa after finishing his studies in 1908. He wrote his first poem in Tatar, "" (, I am a Student), in 1902, which was followed in 1904 by his first book, (, ''The Siberian Railway, or the State of the Nation''), was published in

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

. Following the

First Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

in 1905, questions of social classes, national identity, and resistance to oppression began to rise in his work. He also was engaged in studying folklore and traditions; in 1910, he published a translation of the Bashkir epic ''

Zayatulak and Hyuhylu Zayatulak and Hyuhylu (, ) is a part-prose, part-poetry epic of the Tatar and Bashkir people who live in Bashkortostan, Russia. It is one of the first Bashkir and Tatar epics.Тюркский героический эпос. / Фатых Ибр ...

'' (). After the death of

Ğabdulla Tuqay Ğabdulla Möxəmmətğərif ulı Tuqay () was a Volga Tatars, Volga Tatar poet, critic, publisher, and towering figure of Tatar literature. Tuqay is often referred to as the founder of modern Tatar literature and the modern Tatar literary lang ...

in 1913, Gafuri took up the mantel of a leading democratic voice in Tatar literature. 1917

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Gafuri wrote poetry and plays celebrating workers and the struggle against tsardom during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He also worked to organize local newspapers for

. He also published two semi-autobiographical works, (, ''Black-Faced'') (1927), which was later produced as a play, and (, ''In the Poet's Gold Mines'') (1931). He also wrote fables for children based upon Kazakh folklore. in his monograph ''The Literary Heritage of the Bashkir People'' () noted "... Gafuri is a monolingual writer: He wrote in the Tatar language, but at the same time he served two peoples — the Tatars and the Bashkirs."

Personal life

Gafuri married Zöhrä Nasıyrova (, 1892–1938), the daughter of tailors from Kilem,

Buzdyaksky District Buzdyaksky District (; Bashkir and , ''Büzdäk rayonı'') is an administrativeConstitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Article 64 and municipalLaw #126-z district (raion), one of the fifty-four in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russi ...

. They had two sons.

Legacy

In 1940, the Krasnousolsky District of the Bashkir ASSR was renamed

in Gafuri's honor. In 1948, the opened in the house in Ufa where Gafuri lived from 1924 to 1934. It was one of the first literary museums in Bashkortostan. In 1961, was established in the Oktyabrsky district of Ufa. In 1971, the Bashkir Academic Drama Theater was renamed in Gafuri's honor and a monument to him was added in 1978. Across Russia, some 200 streets bear Gafuri's name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gafuri, Majit Bashkir people 1880 births 1934 deaths Tatar dramatists and playwrights 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Tatar people from the Russian Empire Tatar people from the Soviet Union Tatar poets Soviet writers Muslims from the Russian Empire