February 9 – Birthday of Mukagali Makatayev!

February 9 is the birthday of poet, translator, dramatist, laureate of the State Prize of Kazakhstan, and holder of the title "Poet of the Century" - Mukagali Suleimenovich Makatayev.

He was born in 1931 in the village of Karasaz, Raiymbek district, Almaty region. His birth name was Muhammedkali.

He began his career in 1948 as secretary of the village council in the village of Shibut. From 1954-1962 he worked as a Russian language teacher at Karasaz primary school and as an announcer at Kazakh Radio; from 1962-1963 at the present-day "Egemen Kazakhstan" newspaper; from 1963-1965 as a literary worker at the present-day "Parasat" magazine; from 1965-1972 at "Zhuldyz" magazine; and from 1972-1973 as advisor to the poetry department of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan. From 1973-1974 he studied at the Institute of Literature and Art in Moscow.

The poet's first poems "At the Threshing Floor" and "Shepherd Boy Akitay" were published in 1949 in the present-day "Khantengri" ("Soviet Border") newspaper of Raiymbek (then Narynkol) district when he was working as executive secretary. The poems "Brother's Thoughts" and "Master" were included in the 1951 collection "Song of Youth."

Poet Abdilda Tazhibayev, one of the first to notice Mukagali Makatayev's talent, wrote: "When a young generation grows up, more energetic and passionate than you, how can one not be proud?!" ("Kazakh Literature," March 18, 1960).

During his lifetime, the great poet managed to publish poetry collections: "Ilyich" (1964), "Hello, Friends" (1966), "My Swallow, Have You Come?" and "Mavr" (1970), "When the Swans Sleep" (1973), "My Light" (1975). In total, he had over 650 lyrical poems and narrative poems: "Song of the White Birch," "When the Swans Sleep," "Dream," "Sholpan," "Raiymbek! Raiymbek!" "The Fugitive," and "Mozart. Requiem."

He also translated into Kazakh the "Inferno" section of Dante's "Divine Comedy" (1971), Shakespeare's "Sonnets" (1970), and poems by Walt Whitman (1969). Three translation books were published during the poet's lifetime.

Composer Nurgisa Tlendiyev wrote music to Mukagali's poems "Sarzhailau," "Your Light Won't Go Out, Grandmother," and "Come, Dear One, to Your Alatau." Songs were also written by Shamshi Kaldayakov, Beibit Oraluly, Altynbek Korazbayev, and other composers.

Mukagali Makatayev passed away on March 27, 1976, in Almaty, at the age of 44.

Today in Almaty there is a school named after the poet, a street, and a monument on that street. The M. Makatayev Museum operates in his native village of Karasaz.