Chinghiz Aitmatov

Cengiz Aytmatov was a Kyrgyz and Russian-language novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter known for blending folklore, myth, and contemporary life. His early works included The Newspaper Boy and Ashim in Russian, and White Rain in Kyrgyz, but his breakthrough came with the 1958 novella Jamila, a story of love and resilience set against war that established him as a major literary voice.

Aytmatov’s later novels, including The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years (1980) and The Place of the Skull (1987), explored human and animal lives, reflecting the deep connection between people, nature, and society. Fluent in both Kyrgyz and Russian, he wrote primarily in Russian after 1966 and translated some of his earlier works himself. Several stories, including Jamila and The First Teacher, were adapted into films, and his work remains celebrated for its poetic narrative, social insight, and folkloric depth.