Tolegen Aibergenov
Kazakh-language poet born in Karakalpakstan; he died at thirty, but his poems, including posthumous collections, became a notable part of 1960s Kazakh poetry.
- Occupation:
- Writer, Poet
- Born:
- March 8 1937(30 years old) ♓ — August 29, 1967
- Birthplace:
- Qo'ng'irot District, Karakalpakstan
Biography
Tolegen Aibergenov was born on 8 March 1937 in the Kungrad (Qo'ng'irot) district of Karakalpakstan, into a collective-farm family. After school he entered the Nizami Tashkent State Pedagogical Institute, where he studied Kazakh language and literature, and graduated in 1959.
He went back to his home district to teach at a school. From 1962 to 1965 he directed an evening school for working youth in the Saryagash district of what is now the Turkestan (South Kazakhstan) region, and from 1965 he worked at the literature-promotion bureau of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan.
He wrote in Kazakh. His first poems were printed in 1957, and some appeared in 1961 in “Zhas dauren”, an anthology of young poets. His first book of his own, “Arman sapary”, came out in 1963 and the second, “Omirge sayahat”, in 1965; these were the only two published in his lifetime.
Aibergenov died on 29 August 1967 in Nukus, aged thirty, while visiting with a delegation of Kazakh writers. A third book, “Qumdagy munaralar”, appeared in 1968, followed by the collections “Men sagan gashyq edim” (1970), “Amanat” (1975) and “Bir toyym bar” (1981); a selection in Russian was published in 1987 as “Mir sozvezdiya”. In 1974 he was posthumously awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kazakhstan.
Streets in Shymkent and Saryagash and several schools in southern Kazakhstan bear his name. A memorial museum devoted to him opened on 23 December 2007 at School No. 16 in Astana. Poets of the next generation, among them Mukhtar Shakhanov and Fariza Ongarsynova, regarded him as their mentor.
Education
- Nizami Tashkent State Pedagogical UniversityUniversity · Tashkent · 1959
Life path
- 1937Born
Born in the Kungrad district of Karakalpakstan into a collective-farm family.
- 1957First publications
His poems first appeared in print.
- 1959Graduates
Finished the Nizami Pedagogical Institute in Tashkent.
- 1959–1962School teacher
Taught at a school in his home district.
- 1961“Zhas dauren” anthology
His poems were included in a joint collection of young poets.
- 1962–1965Head of an evening school
Directed a school for working youth in the Saryagash district of South Kazakhstan.
- 1963First book
The collection “Arman sapary” was published.
- 1965Writers' Union
Joined the literature-promotion bureau of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan; second book “Omirge sayahat” published.
- 1967Death
Died in Nukus on 29 August.
- 1974Prize
Posthumously awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kazakhstan.
- 2007Memorial museum
A museum devoted to him opened at School No. 16 in Astana.
Books
- “Arman sapary” (The Path of a Dream)1963 · Poetry collection
The poet's first book of his own.
- “Omirge sayahat” (A Journey into Life)1965 · Poetry collection
The second and last book published in his lifetime.
- “Qumdagy munaralar” (Minarets in the Sands)1968 · Poetry collection
Published a year after his death.
- “Men sagan gashyq edim” (I Was in Love with You)1970 · Poetry collection
Posthumous collection.
- “Amanat”1975 · Poetry collection
Posthumous collection.
- “Bir toyym bar”1981 · Poetry collection
Posthumous collection.
- “Mir sozvezdiya”1987 · Selected poems
Poems in Russian translation; the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Kazakhstan is linked to it.