Zakir Sadíq ulı Rämiev (1859–1921, Tatar: Закир Садыйк улы Рәмиев , Russian: Закир Садыкович Рамеев, Zakir Ramiyev) who used the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Därdemänd or Derdmend (Tatar: Дәрдмәнд, ) was a famous

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

poet, manufacturer and patron of arts. He was a founder of the

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

''Vakit'' (''Waqıt'') and the

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

''Şura''. He is a major representative of classical

Tatar literature Tatar literature ( tt-Cyrl, татар әдебиет) consists of literature in the Tatar language, a Turkic languages, Turkic language spoken in the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. Tatar literature is a part of Tatar people, Tatar society ...

. Because he came from an

affluent Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

family of the tzarist

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

, he was persecuted by the Soviet administration and intentionally ignored as a poet, and his name and works were deleted from literary histories. His father was Muhammed Sadiq Rameev, the well-known gold-miner of the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

Life

Zakir Ramiev was born on November 23, 1859, in the village of Zirgan,

Meleuz Meleuz (russian: Мелеу́з; ba, Мәләүез, ''Mäläwez'') is a town in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, located on the bank of the Belaya River, 205 km south of Ufa. Population: History It was a peasant village since 1786. In ...

in the

, today situated within the

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...

Bashkortostan The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик� ...

of the

Russian Federation 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 ...

. When he was three, his family moved to the village of Yulik, Baimak. His father, initially a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, amassed a great fortune after he got into gold-mining, and became one of the wealthiest persons in

czarist Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I in ...

. Educated at first at home, Zakir then attended with his brother Shakir the madrasa in Mullakay (Mullakayevo) known since with that name. In 1880, when his studies were over, he lived for a time in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

(

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

), where he learned

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, got acquainted with

Turkish literature Turkish literature ( tr, Türk edebiyatı) comprises oral compositions and written texts in Turkic languages. The Ottoman and Azerbaijani forms of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, were highly influenced by Persian la ...

and developed close ties with the Turkish literati. His keen interest in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

led him to translate

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

from Turkish to Tatar and to write poetry. Unfortunately, except for ''Kargalılı Sibğatullah’a İthafen'' (In Dedication to Sibgatullah of Karga), none of the texts from this period are extant. His first poem to be published, "Days Long Past" (as the title would be in English) was inserted anonymously in the

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

"Asma," published in 1903 by Rıza Fahretdin (Reza Fahretdinov). The brothers Rameev were great

philanthropists Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. They financed the building of over 100

mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

and acted as sponsors in a variety of fields. They started publishing in

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

the weekly ''

Vakit ''Yeni Akit'' (literally "New Agreement") is an Islamic-conservative Turkish daily newspaper. ''Yeni Akit'' is aligned with Islamism and has been criticised for homophobia and hate against the LGBT, Jews, Christians, and atheists. History The n ...

'' (Time) in 1906 and the literary journal ''Şura'' (Council) in 1908 and allowed Tatar authors promoting democracy and progressive ideas to publish in these two publications. Derdmend himself had over forty poems published in the two periodicals during the period 1906-1912. After 1913 his works did not appear in

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...

. Zakir Rameev was also a deputat at the

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

. After the October 1917 Revolution he chose to remain in his native land. At first, he continued to live in Orenburg but then moved to

Orsk Orsk (russian: Орск) is the second largest city in Orenburg Oblast, Russia, located on the steppe about southeast of the southern tip of the Ural Mountains. The city straddles the Ural River. Population: It lies adjacent to the Kazakhstan– ...

with his family. As all his fortune had been confiscated he lived under very difficult conditions. He nevertheless went on writing and busying himself with literature. His legendary murmuring in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

while walking in the Ural Mountains that startled the villagers so much must date from this period. When he died on 9 October 1921 in

, he left behind more than ten works of prose, and over a thousand verses of poetry. Unlike his brother Shakir who married many times, he had only one wife. The computing scientist

Bashir Rameev Bashir Iskandarovich Rameev (russian: Баши́р Исканда́рович Раме́ев; formerly "Rameyev" in English; 1 May 1918 – 16 May 1994) was a Soviet inventor and scientist, one of the founders of Soviet computing, ...

was his grandson.

Works

After he died, his poems were published in a number of books. His poetry,

lyrical Lyrical may refer to: *Lyrics, or words in songs *Lyrical dance, a style of dancing *Emotional, expressing strong feelings *Lyric poetry, poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view *Lyric video A music video is a video of variab ...

and

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, reveals a profound intellectuality and a high level of general culture. As the simplistic literary taste of Soviet ideology is being gradually discarded, believe experts, his poems are apt to serve as examples guiding all poets and authors in their creative endeavor in the post-Soviet period, whether they be Tatars or Turks in general. Derdmend was commemorated in December 2009 on the 150th anniversary of his birth by a one-day conference at the National Museum and a gala night at the opera in

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

, the capital of

. Attended by scholars and members of the Rameev family, the

commemoration Commemoration may refer to: *Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion *Commemoration (liturgy), insertion in one liturgy of portions of another *Memorialization *"Commemoration", a song by the 3rd a ...

ended by various other ceremonies in Yulik and Zirgen.

References

Notes

* Габдрахман, Гариф-хаджи. ''Шейх Габдуллах ишан Мулаккайский''. Уфа: Центральное духовное управление мусульман России, Российский исламский университет, 2012.

External links

Poems of Därdemänd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramiev, Zakir 1859 births 1921 deaths People from Bashkortostan People from Sterlitamaksky Uyezd Tatar people from the Russian Empire Members of the 1st State Duma of the Russian Empire Tatar poets Poets from the Russian Empire Muslims from the Russian Empire