Bashirov, Gumer

Born Jan. 7, 1901, in the village of Iana-Sala, Middle Volga Region. Soviet Tatar poet. Member of the CPSU since 1928.

Bashirov was born into a peasant family. He graduated from the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Kazan. Bashirov was a teacher and people’s judge; he took part in the Civil War. In 1931 his short story “Khashim’s Blood” appeared. His novella Sivash (1937), which deals with the heroic deeds of the soldiers on the Southern Front, is an important work in Tatar literature. Bashirov’s best works of the war years were included in the collections Revenge (1942) and The Accordion Player (1943). His novel Honor (1948; State Prize of the USSR, 1951) depicts the life of a Tatar kolkhoz in wartime and has been translated into many languages. Bashirov was a deputy to the fourth and fifth convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He has been awarded the Order of Lenin and three other orders, as well as medals.