Kazakhstan celebrates 120 years of Gabiden Mustafin

Astana, The Gulf Observer: Gabiden Mustafin, the leading Kazakh writer of the Soviet period who created outstanding stories on many aspects of Soviet life, with a focus on the working class.

Mustafin was born in 1902 into a cattleman family in the province of Sartobe in the Karagandy Region. He learned to read and write from the auyl mullah and after studying at a two-class school in the Spassk factory, Mustafin became self-employed.

From early on, Mustafin became fond of reading newspapers and over time, he began writing notes and essay sketches for the “Enbekshi Kazakh” (Working Kazakh) newspaper. His first collection of short stories “Er-Shoyin” (Cast iron man) was published in 1929.

The majority of his fiction in the Soviet years was, in fact, about the everyday lives of ordinary workers and auyl people striving for a bright future.

One of the greatest Kazakh writers Mukhtar Auezov valued Mustafin for his ability to find his unique tone and theme. “The peculiarity of Gabiden’s creativity is that from the very first responsible step, he is a writer who has found his own nerve, precisely chosen his way,” said Auezov.