Winner of the Magtymguly State Prize, a well-known statesman, politician, diplomat, historian who left an unforgettable mark in the history of Turkmen literature with his political novels and works, created by connecting history with the political events of his time, Gylych Mamedovich Kuliyev was born on April 14, 1913 in a peasant family in the first ( old) Gokche village of Mary province. As we know, our master writer turns 110 this year. In his youth, the writer was brought up in a Soviet boarding school. During his work as a translator in the years 1939-1940, he translated several works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism into Turkmen and thoroughly mastered them. He also studied English and Persian. From the year 1941, Gylych Kuliyev became a member of the Bolshevik Communist Party. In 1952, after successfully graduating from the Faculty of Party History of the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the USSR, he received the degree of “candidate of historical sciences.” Shortly thereafter, he was elected as the correspondent of TSSR.
The scientific works of the writer “The struggle of the Communist Party for the strengthening of Soviet power and the implementation of national policy in Central Asia” (1917-1925), “Ways of development of countries that have not reached capitalism”, as well as “The experience of the Central Asian republics in the construction of socialism” and its influence on developing countries” prove his political literacy. His speech entitled “Culture of the Turkmen people” at the 23rd International Congress of Orientalists, held in Cambridge in 1954, was also a great success.
In 1953-1956, the Minister of Culture of the TSSR, and in 1956-1957, as a representative of the TSSR in the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Gylych Kuliyev worked as a diplomat. From 1943 to 1948, the writer worked as the vice-consul of the USSR in the city of Gorgan (Iran). In the years 1957-1960 he worked as the first adviser at the USSR Embassy in Afghanistan, and in 1960-1964 he became the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the USSR in Tunisia.
In the years 1954-1958, G.Kuliyev was elected as a member of the Supreme Council of the TSSR, and as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. For merits in the labour period, he was awarded the orders “October Revolution” (“Октябрьская Революция”) and “Badge of Honor” («Знак Почета»).
Literary works:
When Gylych Kuliyev, having gained enough experience in politics, stepped into the field of literature, he was 40 years old. The writer’s first story, “On the Other Side of Kopetdag” (1954), indicates that a new talent has appeared in the world of literature. This story tells about the great glory of our great poet Magtymguly Pyragy outside the Turkmen land. Ten years later, a new work by the author, “Hard Days”, appeared, which tells about the last years of Pyragy’s life. This novel by a brilliant writer laid the foundation for other wonderful novels, such as “The Black Caravan”, The Rebellious Algerian, “The Emir’s Ambassador”. After re-analyzing the above works about Magtymguly, Gylych Kuliev again wrote a two-volume novel “Magtymguly”. Created by a hardworking writer, this novel has become a wonderful solemn gift for the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great poet and thinker of the East. It is noteworthy that our filmmakers have created a film based on the novel by the author.
The writer’s novel “The Black Caravan” became the winner of the republican prize of the competition announced on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. In the book the author reveals the actions of British imperialism, which wanted to separate the Central Asian people from the newly formed Soviet state and subjugate them. That is why the novel was translated into Russian and published in the central newspaper. Later, the work was translated into German and Czech. Reviews of this novel in a number of foreign media made the famous Turkmen writer famous all over the world. Based on G. Kuliyev’s novel “The Black Caravan”, a two-episode television film was created by Uzbek filmmakers, as well as Turkmen filmmakers and they were warmly welcomed by the audience. Another remarkable work of the writer is the novel “The Ambassador of Emir”, which consists of three books were published in Turkmen and Russian. In this work, the author reveals individual pages from the history of the formation and development of friendly relations between Afghanistan and the young Soviet republic. The first book, published in 1979, tells how the Afghan Emir Amanullah Khan sent his first diplomatic mission to Moscow in early 1919 to meet with Lenin. In his work “Stormy Kabul”, the writer describes the main problems of Soviet-Afghan relations of that time, highlighting the living conditions of the Afghan people.
The great writer addressed the pressing issues of his time, predicting the coming years of reconstruction more precisely 10-15 years ahead. He also wrote the novel “Belated Repentance”, in which he condemned the shortcomings that had arisen. In addition to these, the writer also has such works as “Where are you, my happiness?”, “Mother’s Wrath”. In addition to these works writer wrote works such as “The Rebellious Algerian”, “Hard Days”, “The Ambassador of Emir”, and drama works such as “You Can’t Order Your Heart”, “Weak”, “Oh, you, men!” have been staged at theaters.
Ayjeren ORAZBERDIYEVA,
student at Magtymguly
Turkmen State University
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