Mirtemir Tursunov ( uz, Миртемир Турсунов) (May 30, 1910 - January 25, 1978) most commonly known simply as Mirtemir, was an Uzbek poet and literary translator. In addition to writing his own poetry, Mirtemir translated the works of many famous foreign poets, such as

Abai Qunanbaiuli Ibrahim (Abai) Qunanbaiuly ( kk, Абай Құнанбайұлы, ; russian: Абай Кунанбаев; ) was a Kazakh poet, composer and Hanafi Maturidi theologian philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultu ...

Aleksandr 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, ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

Magtymguly Pyragy 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 ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

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 ...

, Nâzım Hikmet,

Nikolay Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publi ...

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

Samad Vurgun Samad Vurgun ( az, Səməd Vurğun ; born Samad Yusif oghlu Vekilov;, . March 21, 1906 – May 27, 1956) was an Azerbaijani and Soviet poet, dramatist, public figure, first People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1943), academician of Azerbaijan Na ...

, and Shota Rustaveli into the

Uzbek language Uzbek (''Oʻzbekcha, Oʻzbek tili or Ўзбекча, Ўзбек тили''), formerly known as ''Turki'' or ''Western Turki'', is a Turkic language spoken by Uzbeks. It is the official, and national language of Uzbekistan. Uzbek is spoken as ei ...

. Mirtemir became a

National Poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbo ...

of the Uzbek SSR in 1971. He received many other awards for his works, including the State Berdaq Prize (1977) and the State Hamza Prize (1979). In 2002, Mirtemir was posthumously awarded the National Order of Merit ( uz, Buyuk xizmatlari uchun), one of independent Uzbekistan's most prestigious awards.

Life and work

Mirtemir Umarbekovich Tursunov was born on May 30, 1910, in the village of Ikan,

Turkistan 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 1932, Mirtemir graduated from the Pedagogical University of Samarkand with a degree 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 ...

. Mirtemir's first collection of poems, ''Shuʼlalar qoʻynida'' (''Under the Lights'') was published in 1928. His other collections of poetry include ''Zafar'' (''Victory'') (1929), ''Qaynashlarim'' (''My Rages''), ''Bong'' (''The Clamor'') (1932), and ''Poytaxt'' (''The Capital'') (1936). Mirtemir translated the works of many famous foreign poets, such as

, Berdaq,

, Nâzım Hikmet,

, and Shota Rustaveli into Uzbek. In particular, he translated ''Who is Happy in Russia?'' of

and ''The Man in the Panther's Skin'' of Shota Rustaveli into Uzbek. He also translated the

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

epic poem '' Manas''. An example of his work, written originally in

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

alphabet:From ''Modern literary Uzbek'' by Andras J.E. Bodrogligeti"Она тилим, онажоинм тили - бу, Бежикданок сингган жону кулокка. Элу юртим, хонумоним тили - бу, Кадимликда ўхшар она тупрокка"

This is my mother tongue, the language of my dear mother. It permeated my soul and ear since I was in the cradle. This is the language of my people, my homeland, and my folks. In life time it is as old as mother earth.

Mirtemir died in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

on 25 January 1978, at the age of 67.

References

{{authority control 1910 births 1978 deaths People from Turkistan Region Uzbeks 20th-century Uzbekistani poets Uzbekistani translators Translators from Russian Translators to Uzbek Soviet poets 20th-century male writers 20th-century translators Uzbekistani male poets Soviet male poets