Rasul Gamzatov: biography, creativity, family, photos and quotes

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The famous Avar poet of the Soviet period Rasul Gamzatov was born in 1923, on September 8, in Tsada (this is a village in the Khunzakh region of the Dagestan ASSR). His father, Gamzat Tsadasy, was a national poet of his native republic, a laureate of the State Prize of the Soviet Union, and his mother, Khandulay Gaidarbekgadzhievna Gamzatova (1888–1965), was a simple Asian woman, a homemaker.

School years

Like all Soviet children, at the age of 7, that is, in 1930, Rasul Gamzatov went to study at the secondary school of Araninsk, he was a rather diligent, intelligent and inquisitive student. He especially liked to listen to his father's stories about the famous hero Shamil, who, having received eight wounds right in the heart, continued to fight. He was able to cut the rider along with the horse from head to toe with one blow of his saber. In addition, Rasul listened with fascination to the story of the brave naib Hadji Murad. Later, he translated Leo Tolstoy's poem about this hero into his native language. Other favorite heroes of the future poet were the legendary Khochbar and the handsome Chokh Kamalil Bashir. All this is becausethat the nationality of Rasul Gamzatov is an Avar, and he was interested in all those stories that told about the heroic past of his people. He also liked to listen to songs with lyrics by the legendary love singer Mahmud. He knew about the history of his people precisely from these stories. And little Rasul really liked to listen to the poems written by his father. He soon learned them by heart.

Rasul Gamzatov. Biography: first steps as a poet

When the boy was only 9 years old, he wrote his first poems. From that day on, the lines from under his pen flowed like from a cornucopia. They were about his native school, about classmates, about teachers, etc. By the age of 13 (then Rasul Gamzatov had just moved to the 7th grade) in one of the Avar newspapers, namely, in Bolshevik Gory, they published one of his poems. The well-known writer Rajab Dinmagomayev, a compatriot of the Gamzatovs, wrote a laudatory review of this work. After that, Rasul was continually published in various publications of the Khunzakh region, in the Buynaksk city newspaper, as well as in the republican weekly Bolshevik Gory. Since the young man did not have his own pseudonym, he signed with the creative name of his father - Tsadas. But one day a gray-haired mountaineer showed him his surprise at the change in his father's style. And in order not to be confused with Tsadas, he took the name of his ancestor as a pseudonym. Now he was a young Avar poet, who bore the name Rasul Gamzatov.

Youth

After graduating from the 8th grade of secondary school, the future famous poet applied to the Avar Pedagogical College in the city of Buynaksk. After 2 years, he returned as a teacher to his native school. After some time, he joined the Avar State Theater as an assistant director, and then got a job as the head of the department in the Dagestan newspaper Bolshevik Gory, where he also worked as his own correspondent. Further, fate led him to the Dagestan radio, and for some time he was a broadcast editor.

Moscow

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, in which he lost his brothers, Rasul Gamzatov moved to Moscow to study at the Moscow Literary Institute. M. Gorky. He was advised to take this step by the Lak poet Effendi Kapiev, who, having heard his poems translated into Russian, was fascinated by the talent of the young Avar. By the way, even before moving to Moscow, the young man was a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR. Gamzatov's knowledge of Russian was more than insufficient for admission to a literary institute, but the director, Fyodor Vasilyevich Gladkov, liked the translations of his poems so much that he, ignoring the many mistakes made by the young men in dictation, wrote him down among the accepted students. Perhaps he already had a presentiment that a future famous poet was standing in front of him, and not only in his homeland. Indeed, years later, all over the USSR they knew who Rasul Gamzatov was. His biography of this particular period was the beginning of his career path as a literary figure in the USSR.

Study at the Institute. M. Gorky

Here, at the institute, a young Avar discovered many new things. Poetry opened up for him in a new light. Getting more and more acquainted with the work of various Russian and foreign authors, each time he fell in love with one or the other. Among his favorites were Blok, Yesenin, Bagritsky, Mayakovsky, and, of course, Pushkin, Nekrasov, Lermontov, and from foreign works Heine was very close to him. In 1950, the poet Rasul Gamzatov graduated from the institute. He later said that Russian literature made an indelible impression on him and on his work.

Public activities and state awards

After Rasul Gamzatov received his higher education in the Moscow literary school and returned to his native Dagestan, he was elected chairman of the Union of Writers of the Autonomous Republic. He held this position for 53 years, until his death in 2003. In addition, he was first elected a deputy, and then deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Republic, and after that, a deputy of an all-Union scale. He was also a member of the editorial boards of such authoritative publications as Novy Mir and Friendship of Peoples (magazines), Literary Russia and Literaturnaya Gazeta, etc.

Rasul Gamzatov's life was very busy: he constantly moved from Dagestan to Moscow, traveled a lot, met fans of his talent, but most importantly, he always felt the attention and care of the state. It can be called the minion of fate. In those years, the state awarded talented figuresart various awards and awarded medals and orders. Gamzatov was a recipient of the Orders of Lenin (four times), the Order of the October Revolution, the Friendship of Peoples, and others. Before his death in 2003, he received the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called from President V. Putin.

Rasul Gamzatov - poet

While still studying at the institute, the first collection of poems by the famous Avar poet in Russian was published. After that, it was translated into the languages of other peoples of the USSR. The best works of the poet were: “Our mountains”, “My land”, “Year of my birth”, “The word about my elder brother”, “Highlander’s homeland”, “My heart is in the mountains”, “Dagestan spring”, “Zarema” (1963), “And the Star Speaks to the Star”, “Third Hour”, “Cranes”, “Island of Women”, “My Dagestan”, “Judge Me by the Code of Love”, “Highlander’s Constitution” and others. Almost each of the collections was awarded some kind of state prize. For example, for "The Year of My Birth" the poet Rasul Gamzatov was awarded the State Prize of the USSR, and for "High Stars" - the Lenin Prize.

Sage

They say mountains make people special. Perhaps it is from closeness to God? Separated from the world, living far from civilization, real sages live among the mountains. From the works of Rasul Gamzatov, his thoughts are simply breathtaking! They contain an incredible amount of wise sayings. Here, judge: "Glory, don't, don't touch the living, … even the strongest and best you sometimes kill." It's amazing how much depth there is in this one line! And here is how he represents happiness: "Happiness is notwhat comes by itself when you don’t look for it, happiness is a city recaptured in battle or rebuilt on the ashes."

Songs of Rasul Gamzatov

Melodies were written for many poems of the Avar poet. The songs were performed by such famous singers as the legendary Anna German, the world famous Galina Vishnevskaya, Iosif Kobzon, Muslim Magomayev, Valery Leontiev, Sofia Rotaru, Vakhtang Kikabidze and others.

Rasul Gamzatov's family

The great Avar writer worshiped his parents all his life. Of course, his father would be the highest authority for him, but he had a special love for his mother. The life of a mountain woman is not so easy, so his attitude towards her was careful. Here is a quote from one of his works: "I conjure: take care of your mother. Children of the world, take care of your mother." He treated his wife with the same respect. The poet had a fairly large family. And as is customary in every Asian family, he was surrounded by the attention, reverence and care of his household. Rasul Gamzatov's wife Patimat bore him three daughters. He had no heir. Yes, and daughters gave him many granddaughters and not a single grandson. Perhaps it was precisely because he was constantly surrounded by women that his attitude towards the weaker sex was so reverent. He greatly appreciated their beauty, tenderness. Here are the lines that he dedicated to mothers: "For years, you have no power over a woman - and, of course, this is not a secret. For children, all mothers are beautiful, which means there are no ugly women!"

Memory

The great Avar poet died in 2003 at the age of 80. While still alivehe immortalized himself with his beautiful works. The governments of Russia and Dagestan have repeatedly decided to establish memorials to the memory of the great Avar both on the territory of Dagestan (there are a large number of monuments to Rasul Gamzatov) and throughout Russia. In 2013, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Mayor of Moscow, a memorial to the great poet was solemnly opened in the capital.