Berdi Muradovich Kerbabayev ( tk, Berdi Myradowiç Kerbabaýew; russian: Берды Мурадович Кербабаев, Berdy Muradovich Kerbabayev; 3 March 1894 – 3 March 1974) was a Soviet and Turkmen writer, the national writer of the

Turkmen SSR Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

, an academician of the

Academy of Sciences An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...

of the Turkmen SSR and a member of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

from 1948 until his death. He is one of the most prominent contributors to

Turkmen literature Turkmen literature ( tk, Türkmen edebiýaty) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Old Oghuz languages, Oghuz Turkic and Turkmen languages. The Turkmen people, Turkmens are direct descendants of the Oghuz Turks, who were a western ...

Biography

Kerbabayev was born on 3 March 1894, in the family of a farmer. He studied at the village school (mekdep) until 1917, then continued his studies at the Bukhara

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

. He participated in the

Basmachi Movement The Basmachi movement (russian: Басмачество, ''Basmachestvo'', derived from Uzbek: "Basmachi" meaning "bandits") was an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. The movement's roots l ...

under Eziz-khan Chapyk. In May 1919, he left the movement and joined the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

instead. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he worked in the political department of the

Transcaspia The Transcaspian Oblast (russian: Закаспійская область), or just simply Transcaspia (russian: Закаспія), was the section of Russian Empire and early Soviet Russia to the east of the Caspian Sea during the second half of ...

n Front. From 1919 to 1924, Kerbabayev worked as a district instructor and served as the head of the rural department of national education. He studied at the

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

Institute from 1927 to 1928. From 1924 to 1934, Kerbabayev worked as the editor of "Turkmenistan" newspaper and "Tokmak" magazine. He was the head of the science administration of the

from 1934 to 1936. He presided over the Union of Writers of the Turkmen SSR. He was later elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmen SSR. He was also the member of the Committee on the

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

Personal life

He had two sons – Bayram and Baky. * Bayram (April 19, 1944 – August 8, 2020) was the

Histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

Department Chairman at the

Turkmen State Medical University Turkmen State Medical University named after Myrat Garryev ( tk, Myrat Garryýew adyndaky Türkmenistanyň Döwlet lukmançylyk uniwersiteti) is a Turkmen medical university. Founded in 1931, it is the only medical university in Turkmenistan with ...

. * Baky (1921–2009) was the director of the Central

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

under the

of the Turkmen SSR. He was married to Eugenia Annakulievna Artykova (1926–1962). They had a daughter, Aylar. * Aylar is a specialist in literature, and

Candidate of Sciences Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "do ...

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

. She lives in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Literary works

Berdi Kerbabayev started writing in 1923. He published more than 30 literary works of various genres: several plays,

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

s, poems, literary

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pi ...

s and some prose works. At the same time, he translated the works of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

, and Count

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

into the

Turkmen language Turkmen (, , , or , , , ), sometimes referred to as "Turkmen Turkic" or "Turkmen Turkish", is a Turkic language spoken by the Turkmens of Central Asia, mainly of Turkmenistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. It has an estimated 5 million native speakers ...

. In the poems "Girls’ World" (1927), "Enslaved" (1928), "To the New Life" (1930), the author described the difficult life of a Turkmen woman in the past. He also supported norms of socialist morals. The poem "

Amu-Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

" (1930) is devoted to socialist construction. In the historical novel "The Decisive Step" (vol. 1–2, 1940 – 1947; vol. 3, 1955) the role of agriculture in the socialist revolution and friendly relations of Turkmen farmers with Russians are vividly depicted. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Kerbabyev published the play "Hero of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Kurban Durdy" (1942), the poem "Aylar" (1943), the tragedy about the great Turkmen poet and patriot "

Magtymguly Magtymguly Pyragy ( fa, ''Makhdumqoli Farāghi''; tk, Magtymguly Pyragy; ; tr, Mahtumkulu Firaki; , born Magtymguly, was a Turkmen spiritual leader, philosophical poet, Sufi and traveller who is considered to be the most famous figure in ...

" (1943), the play "Brothers" (1943), the

for the first modern Turkmen

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, "Abadan", the short stories "Who won?", "Aspiration", among others. In the post-war period, the theme of socialist labour prevails in the author's works. "Aysoltan from the Land of White Gold" (1949), about the daily life of a

collective farming Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

village, and the novel "Nebit-Dag" (1957), about petroleum industry workers, were written during that period. The novel "Born by a Miracle" (1965) narrates the story of Turkmen revolutionary Gaygysyz Atabayev.

Bibliography

* Afonnikov G. G. The humanism of B. Kerbabaev – Ashgabat, 1976. – p. 39. * Ashirov G. The problem of internationalism in the novels of Berdi Kerbabaev – Ashgabat, 1978. – p. 26

References

* Karryev K. M
Кербабаев Берды
/ Краткая литературная энциклопедия. - 1966. Т. З.
Кербабаев Берды Мурадович
Центразия.
Timeline Turkmenistan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerbabayev, Berdi 20th-century Turkmenistan writers 1894 births 1974 deaths People from Ashgabat Communist Party of Turkmenistan politicians People from Ahal Region People from Transcaspian Oblast Ethnic Turkmen poets Turkmenistan male poets Turkmenistan poets Soviet male poets 20th-century male writers Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin