Qajymuqan Munaitpasuly ( kz, Қажымұқан Мұңайтпасұлы, ''Qajymūqan Mūñaitpasūly''; russian: Хаджимукан Мунайтпасов, 'Khadzhimukan Munajtpasov' 7 April 1871 – 12 August 1948), also known as Hadjimukan Munaytpasov, was a Kazakh

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sport ...

and repeated World Champion in

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

. Qajymuqan Munaytpasuly was born in 1871, in Karaotkyel village in

Akmola Province Akmola Region ( kz, Ақмола облысы, translit=Aqmola oblysy; russian: Акмолинская область, Akmolinskaya oblast) is a centrally located region of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Kokshetau. The national capital, Astana, is en ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He was 194 cm tall and weighed 139 kg. He fought in 54 countries, winning 48

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s. One of the most important moments in his career was in 1910, when he was awarded the gold medal in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and became World Champion in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

in Sweden for the first time. This was the first time in history that a Kazakh won a world championship. One of his famous victories was the defeat of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

jiu-jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

master Harakiki Jindofu, who did not survive the fatal injury of the spine he received during the fight. Several times he was not allowed to be in the Russian National team due to the Russian Empire's discriminatory policy, therefore he participated in international competitions on behalf of Manchuria with the Japanese name Yamagata Makhanura. In addition to being famous because of his wrestling career, he was also a patriot for his country. He had good connections to people in the Alash Party and met with them in 1918 in

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

. After 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 founded the first Kazakh theater in

Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( kk, Қызылорда, translit=Qyzylorda, ), formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (russian: Кзыл-Орда), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-cen ...

in 1925. Before retiring from his wrestling career in 1940, he collected over 100.000 rubles for the USSR Defense Fund by showing his strength and tricks in a small circus tent to the public during the

Second World War 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 ...

. This money was used to buy a Po-2 plane for the

Soviet army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. Munaytpasov wrote a telegram to

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

requesting that the plane be named after the legendary Kazakh-Soviet fighter

Amangeldy Imanov Amangeldy (also spelled Amangeldi) is a given name of Central Asian origin. Notable people with the name include: * Amangeldy Aytaly (1939–2022), Kazakh academic and politician * Amangeldy Hydyr (born 1951), Turkmenistani painter *Amangeldy Mural ...

, to which Stalin obliged. He died on 12 August 1948 in ''Lyeninskoe znamya''

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

(

South Kazakhstan Province Turkistan Region (), formerly South Kazakhstan Region ( kk, Оңтүстік Қазақстан облысы, translit= Oñtüstık Qazaqstan oblysy) (russian: Южно-Казахстанская область, ') from 1992–2018 and Chimkent ...

), without any disciples and learners and leaving his four wives in

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

. In 1980 a museum was opened in his honor in the village Temirlan (Temirlanovka) around 20 kilometers north of Shymkent. There are also Qajymuqan's streets in

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

Nur-Sultan Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

and

Semey Semey ( kk, Семей, Semei, سەمەي; cyrl, Семей ), until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk (russian: Семипала́тинск) and in 1917–1920 as Alash-kala ( kk, Алаш-қала, ''Alaş-qala''), is a city in eastern Kazakhst ...

. The

soccer stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-pu ...

Shymkent Shymkent (; Шымкент, Şymkent), known until 1993 as Chimkent ( uz, Çımkent, چىمكېنت; Yañalif: Çimkent ()); russian: Чимкент, translit=Chimkent (), is a city in Kazakhstan. It is near the border with Uzbekistan. It is one ...

- the home of FC Ordabassy - is named after him. In front of the stadium is also a statue for him, too. Two

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 ...

n films were based on his life's history: ''Haji-Mukan'' (1978) and ''Know ours!'' (1985; starring Bakhytjan Esjanov, Gyeorgiy Khachaturovich and Aleksandr Pankratov-Chorny).

External links

Article about him in English

Article in Kazakh
Ethnic Kazakh people 1871 births 1948 deaths {{Kazakhstan-wrestling-bio-stub