H.E. Chingiz Aitmatov †
Chingiz Aitmatov was born on 12. December 1928 in Kislar Seker, in Kyrghisia. He grew up bilingual (Kyrghisian and Russian), lost his father at the age of 9, was forced to leave school at the age of 14 because of the war, and had to undertake administrative tasks. In 1946 he completed his school-leaving certificate, worked as a stockbreeder on an experimental farm, and at the same time began to gather his first journalistic and literary experiences. From 1956 to 1958 he studied at the Gorky Institute in Moscow. In 1958 his graduation work, “Jamila”, which established his worldwide fame, was published, as well as the short story “Eye to Eye”, whose principal character is a deserter from the Soviet Army in the Second World War. Following his studies, Aitmatov worked as editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Literaturnaya Kirgiziya” (Literary Kyrghisia), as correspondent of “Pravda”, and as a member of the editorial staff at the “Literaturnaya Gazeta” (Literary Newspaper), and he was director of the Kyrghisian Film Association. In 1959 Aitmatov became a member of the CPSU, and in 1966 was elected to the Supreme Soviet. In 1989 he became a member of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR, then head of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission, and was finally appointed to Gorbachev’s presidential council and attempted to mediate in the conflicts between nationalities which were beginning to flare up. In November 1990 he became the ambassador of the USSR, and later of the CIS, in Luxembourg.
Chingiz Aitmatov died on 10 June 2008, Nuremberg, Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinghiz_Aitmatov
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Aitmatov/Jamila.html
http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?405