Diary of Zhambyl Zhabayev’s literary secretary found in Kazakhstan

A find that reveals new facts about the development of Kazakh literature. A diary of one of the prominent poets Gali Ormanov was found in the country. From 1939 to 1945 he worked as the literary secretary of Zhambyl Zhabayev. It is the first of 10 diaries from this period and it was written in the Latin alphabet. The records were originally kept by the poet’s wife Aitbaly Ormanova, before being handed over to the descendants.

“Here he is in a photo with poet Zhambyl Zhabayev. This proves that they were friends, and it was Gali Ormanov who recorded Zhambyl Zhabayev's works by transferring them to paper and audio tape,” said Aslan Shekerov, history teacher.

Along with Zhambyl’s original poems, the diary provides unique information about who he met with and what issues were discussed at these meetings. These facts have never been published before. Despite the restoration of the document, experts have not yet fully studied its contents.

“After the literary scholars have completed the study of the diary, we will publish it in book format. I think that with these records there will be a lot of sensational discoveries related to our history and to the field of literature in general. I therefore think that all researchers and educators will be interested in information that will be included in future textbooks with the new approved alphabet,” said Aidar Kyrykbaiuly, great-grandson of Gali Ormanov.

A collection of works by Gali Ormanov ‘Olzhabek’ published in 1934 in the Latin alphabet was found recently. The only copy was kept in the Yakutia National Library, and has now returned to its homeland. It is planned to translate this work into a new version of the Latin alphabet and to publish a large number of copies. Gali Ormanov is the author of numerous collections of poetry, several poems, short stories and essays. His own works were translated into a number of foreign languages. In turn, he himself translated the masterpieces of world literature into Kazakh. He was the only author to translate Leo Tolstoy’s novel ‘Anna Karenina’. Next year, a two-volume edition of Gali Ormanov’s works will be republished in honor of his 115th birth anniversary.

 

Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova

Edited by Saule Mukhamejanova