BISHKEK-TBILISI, November 11, 2024 – Today, I will share with readers my recent stay in Kyrgyzstan. In Bishkek, I managed to interview the president of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Mamytov, the Secretary General of the NOC of Kyrgyzstan, Kylychbek Sarbaghyshev, the first vice president of the Kyrgyz Football Union, Nurdin Bukuev, the head of the multifunctional sports club “Dordoi,” Sharshen Kasenov, the director of the Scientific Research Institute of Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, academician Abdylzhan Akmataliev, meet with the general director of the unique ethnocomplex “Supara,” Zhanilsynzat Turganbaeva, the former Minister of Energy, Osmonzhan Artykbaev, the advisor to the president of Kyrgyzstan, Arslan Koychiev, the famous television journalist and public figure, Narynbek Idinov (Naryn Aip), and the president of the Federation of Sports Journalists, Ulugbek Salymbekov.
I especially want to highlight the visit to the House-Museum of the world-renowned Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov (1928-2008) and the meeting with Eldar Aitmatov, Chingiz’s son.
Taking this opportunity, I want to thank the honoured cultural figure of Kyrgyzstan, the General Secretary of the Federation of Sports Journalists of this country and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of Kyrgyzstan, Kabyl Makeshov, who was the organiser of my meetings with the aforementioned figures,
including E. Aitmatov.
E. Aitmatov is a professional artist, and since 2008, he has been the head of the International Fund of Chingiz Aitmatov for the past 11 years, the director of this House-Museum. At the beginning of the meeting, Eldar thanked me for my interest in the life and works of Chingiz Aitmatov. “I’m very glad that you are our guests; I want to send warm regards to the people of Georgia,” he said.
– Eldar, when and how did the idea of creating this House-Museum come about?
After my father’s death (2008), my mother (Maria Urmatova), my sister Shirin and I decided that to preserve everything my father had created, it would be important to establish a House-Museum. Having made such a decision, the first step was to preserve everything that had been created in the same form it was during the father’s lifetime. Several years were spent on the reconstruction of the Museum House, the collection of exhibits, and the creation of special halls for their display.
Since the end of 2013, the House-Museum has been functioning; it is open to visitors from different countries—open to officials, tourists, students, and readers of the father’s works. In addition to visiting the House-Museum in Bishkek, they also travel to the village where their father was born and raised (the village of Sheker in the Talas region of Kyrgyzstan, author’s note), as well as to Lake Issyk-Kul, where their father created his works. We are glad that this House-Museum is known in Georgia, and we are very pleased that works by Chinghiz Aitmatov are being translated and published in Georgian.
– Your father probably told you about his friendship with cultural figures of Georgia, particularly with the famous poet, chairman of the Union of Writers of Georgia (1953-1967), and Academician of the Georgian Academy of Sciences Irakli Abashidze (1909-1992). The diplomat Zurab Abashidze, son of Irakli Abashidze, spoke to me in detail about their friendship!
My father had a long-standing friendship with writers, poets, and actors of Georgia. Chingiz was proud of his friendship with prominent cultural figures of Georgia and often told me about them. Both in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, it is necessary to thoroughly study and publish all materials and information about Chingiz’s friendship with Georgia, with the poets and writers of Georgia, including the poet-academic Irakli Abashidze.
We are proud that even in the 20th century, my father’s works were translated into Georgian. This process continued into the 21st century, and recently, a new edition of my father’s works in Georgian was published in Tbilisi. It was released with the support of the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Azerbaijan and Georgia (residence in Baku) and the honorary consuls of Kyrgyzstan in Georgia. I hope that the works of Ch. Aitmatov, translated into Georgian will be accessible to an increasing number of readers in Georgia.
In the 20th century, my father’s works were translated into 185 world languages, including Georgian. We need to intensify contact between Kyrgyzstan and Georgia in the fields of culture and sports; this is very important for the people of our countries to get to know each other better to communicate more often, and all this will eventually lead to the expansion of cooperation in other areas. Taking this opportunity, I would like to ask you to convey warm greetings to the people of Georgia, especially to those who knew my father and read his works.-
Tengiz Pachkoria –AIPS Member, Honored Journalist of Georgia
Photo 1-2 E. Aitmatov and T. Pachkoria , 2024
Photo 3- E.Aitmatov, his wife Sabira, K. Makeshov and T. Pachkoria, 2024
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