Mukhtar Magauin (2 February 1940 – 9 January 2025) was a Kazakh writer and publicist.

Life and career

Magauin was born in the district of Chubar-Tau in Semey region (now

East Kazakhstan Province East Kazakhstan Region (; ) is a region of Kazakhstan. It occupies the easternmost part of Kazakhstan, and includes parts of the Irtysh River, Lake Markakol, and Lake Zaysan. Its administrative center is Öskemen (also known as Ust'-Kamenogorsk ...

) of

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 ...

on 2 February 1940. He graduated at the Kazakh State University (1962) and became a PhD doctor (1965) there. He was head of the literary criticism department at the "Kazakh literature" newspaper 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 ...

. He published several scholarly articles and books and novels. When he was mentioned by the

Soviet 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 ...

study experts in the West in the book edited by

Edward Allworth Edward Christopher Allworth (July 6, 1895 – June 24, 1966) was an American officer in the United States Army during World War I. Biography Allworth was born in Battle Ground, Washington, Allworth graduated from Oregon State University in 1916 ...

as one of the nationalist Kazakh writers (1973), the local Communist rulers put his name to the "black list". Most of his renowned uncensored novels were published only after the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. He published the novels ''The Yellow Kazakh'' (1991), ''ABCs of Kazakh History'' (1993), ''Dreams of Kypchaks'' (2004), ''The Half'' (2007), etc. In 1997, he became the winner of the International Prize for the Turkic speaking writers and culture workers and he received the prize from Suleiman Demirel, the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

at that time. He was also a holder of the title of the People’s Writer of Kazakhstan. Magauin translated several short stories and novels of the prominent foreign writers (

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

, etc.) into Kazakh. Some translations of his writings, such as the short story 'The Archivist' (1973) and an extract from the novel 'Blue Haze' (1972), have appeared in English His use of traditional proverbs has been studied by Zhanar Abdigapbarova. Magauin died in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States on 9 January 2025, at the age of 84.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110825055638/http://prstr.narod.ru/texts/num0805/arg0805.htm * http://www.azattyk.org/content/Kazakhstan_Culture_Magauin/1950036.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Magauin, Mukhtar 1940 births 2025 deaths Kazakh-language writers Turkic literature Al-Farabi Kazakh National University alumni Immigrants to the Czech Republic Kazakhstani emigrants 20th-century Kazakhstani writers 21st-century Kazakhstani writers