The Hindu : New Delhi News : Kyrgyz writer Aitmatov dead

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Saturday, Jun 14, 2008
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New Delhi

Kyrgyz writer Aitmatov dead

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Renowned Kyrgyz writer, philosopher and statesman Chinghiz Aitmatov has passed away after a grave illness. According to the Kyrgyz Embassy in New Delhi, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic has declared Saturday a day of national mourning.

A Book of Condolences was kept at the Kyrgyz Embassy here at C-93 Anand Niketan on Thursday and Friday for visitors to offer their condolences.

Born in Kyrgyz village Sheker in 1928, Aitmatov began his career as a writer with a short story, “Jamilya”, in 1958. He later became a novelist. Some of his novels like “The First Teacher”, “The Scaffold”, “The White Ship”, “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years” and “When Mountains Fall” earned him fame.

Aitmatov’s works have been translated into 150 languages.

He entered the diplomatic sphere amid the disintegration of the erstwhile Soviet Union and served as the Soviet and then Russian Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1990 to 1993. In 1995, he became the Kyrgyz Republic’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France. He also represented Kyrgyzstan in the European Union, NATO and UNESCO.

Awarded the Lenin Prize for Literature, one of the highest awards of the Soviet era, in 1963, he was also honoured with the “Hero of Socialist Labour” in 1978. He received several other awards in literature and philosophy, including the Jawaharlal Nehru International Award.

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