Origins & Early Life

Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov (Avar: ХӀамзатазул Расул ХӀамзатил вас, romanized: Ħamzatazul Rasul Ħamzatil vas, IPA: [ħamzatil rasul]; Russian: Расу́л Гамза́тович Гамза́тов, IPA: [rɐˈsul ɡɐmˈzatəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐmˈzatəf] ; 8 September 1923 – 3 November 2003) was a Soviet and Russian poet who wrote in Avar. Among his poems was Zhuravli, which became a well-known Soviet song. Gamzatov was born on 8 September 1923 in the Avar village of Tsada in the north-east Caucasus. His father, Gamzat Tsadasa, was a well-known bard, heir to the ancient tradition of minstrelsy still thriving in the mountains.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He was eleven when he wrote his first verse about a group of local boys who ran down to the clearing where an airplane had landed for the first time. A number of different poems by him also became songs, such as Gone Sunny Days. In 1939 he graduated from Pedagogical College. He had various jobs serving as a school teacher, an assistant director in the theater, a journalist in newspapers and a radio host. From 1945 to 1950 he studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Gamzatov was awarded the State Stalin Prize in 1952, The Lenin Prize in 1963, and Laureate Of The International Botev Prize...

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