Tazhibaev, Abdilda

Born Jan. 22 (Feb. 4), 1909, in Kzyl-Orda. Soviet Kazakh poet and playwright. Doctor of philological sciences (1971). Member of the CPSU since 1939.

Tazhibaev graduated from the literature department of Kazakh University in Alma-Ata in 1946. In 1960 he became head of the department of theatrical and fine arts at the Institute of Literature and Art of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR.

Tazhibaev published his first works in 1928. He is the author of the poetry collections A New Rhythm (1933), The Breakthrough (1934), The Force (1935), The Beloved Ones (1942), From the Bottom of My Heart (1949), The Islands (1958), and From Yesterday to Today (1964), which paint a multifaceted picture of life in contemporary Kazakhstan. In the late 1930’s, Tazhibaev began writing plays. His best plays include The White Birch (1938, with M. Auezov), Bloom, Steppe! (staged 1952, published 1953; revived 1958 as One Tree Does Not a Forest Make), Maira (1957), Friends (Portrait, 1964), and The Cliff (1966). The collection of literary criticism Life and Poetry (1960) and the monograph The Birth and Development of Kazakh Dramaturgy (1971) are devoted to the development of Soviet Kazakh literature.

Tazhibaev was a deputy to the sixth convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR. In 1934 he became secretary of the Writers’ Union of the Kazakh SSR, and from 1939 to 1944 he was chairman of the union’s administrative board. Tazhibaev has been awarded three orders and various medals.