Saken Seifullin ( kz, Сәкен (Сәдуақас) Сейфуллин, ''Säken (Säduaqas) Seifullin''; 15 October 1894 – 25 April 1938) was a pioneer of modern Kazakh literature, poet and writer, and national activist.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
He was the founder and first head of the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan, he was the author of controversial literature calling for greater independence of Kazakhs from Soviet and Russian power. He met repression and was executed in 1938. The Soviet government posthumously rehabilitated him during de-Stalinization.
Biography
Seifullin was born in a nomadic settlement in what is today Qarağandy Region.
Education
From 1905 to 1908, Seifullin studied in a Russian-Kazakh school in the Spassk brass works. He went on to study in Aqmola in the primary parish school and the Aqmola three-class city school. In addition, he taught
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
at a Muslim madrasah. On August 21 of 1913, Seifullin entered the Omsk teaching seminarium. His first article was published in the November edition of ''
Ay Qap ''Ay Qap'' (آی قاپ, ''Айқап, Aıqap'' in modern scripts) was a Kazakh journal of opinion and debate published in Troitsk from January 1911 until September 1915 under the editorship of Mūhammedjan Seralin.okhrana, the secret police.
In 1914, Seifullin became one of the heads of the first cultural and educational society of Kazakh youth, ''Bırlık'' (Unity) in Omsk. His book of poetry ''Ötken Künder'' (Past Days) was published that year.
In 1916, he worked on a property census commission for the 12
volost
Volost ( rus, во́лость, p=ˈvoləsʲtʲ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.
In earlier East Slavic history, '' volost'' was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ...
s of Akmolinsk Uezd. In that year he wrote the poem ''Volnenie'' (Unrest), dedicated to Central Asian unrest in 1916. From September 1 of 1916 he taught in Bugula school, which he co-founded.
On 9 March 1917 he moved to Aqmola, where he wrote a welcoming poem for the February revolution, ''Bız asyğys jinaldyq'' (We quickly gathered to march). In April of that year, Seifullin created a social-political and cultural society named ''Jas Qazaq'' (Young Kazakh). In July, he contributed to an issue of ''Tırşılık'' (Life) newspaper. In September, Seifullin began teaching three-month pedagogical courses in the new Russian-Kazakh school in
Akmolinsk
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 in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, thou ...
.
Right after the Russian Revolution, Seifullin wrote a poem, "А ну-ка, джигиты!", which is said to be the first work of Kazakh Soviet literature. On 27 December 1917, the Soviet regime was established in Akmolinsk. Seifullin was elected a member of the Aqmola Deputy Board and was appointed national commissar of education. In February, he was admitted to the Party. On 1 May 1918 his play, ''Baqyt Jolyna'' (On the Way of Happiness), was performed for the first time.СЕЙФУЛЛИН САКЕН inform.kz. 5 October 2009
Civil War
When on June 4, 1918, the White Guard conducted a revolution, Seifullin was arrested and sent to Petropavlovsk jail. He was put in a
Death Carriage
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
of AtamanBoris Annenkov, where he spent 47 days. He broke out of Kolchak Prison and reached his village by July. After two months he was forced to flee for
Taraz
Taraz ( kz, Тараз, تاراز, translit=Taraz ; known to Europeans as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzs ...
.
Capture and execution
Seifullin was arrested by the agents of the NKVD from Moscow in 25 April 1938 and executed in Almaty,
Kazakh SSR
; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы)
*1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы)
, linking_name = the ...
, deemed a "threat to the society" and a "nationalist". However, since
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
, Säken Seifullin is often considered one of the most influential Kazakh thinkers of the 20st century, a major contributor to Kazakh culture and literature, and a martyr for freedom.