AYTMATOV, CHINGIZ

born Dec. 12, 1928, Sheker, Kirgiz A.S.S.R. [now in Kyrgyzstan] Aytmatov also spelled Aitmatov author, translator, and journalist, who began his literary career in 1952 and who in 1959 became a Pravda correspondent in Kyrgyz. Aytmatov achieved major literary recognition with his collection of short stories, Povesti gor i stepey (1963; Tales of Mountains and Steppes), for which he was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1963. His most important works include: Trudnaya pereprava (1956; A Difficult Passage), Litsom k litsu (1957; Face to Face), Proshchay, Gulsary! (1967; Farewell, Gulsary!), Bely parokhod (1970; The White Ship), and Pervy uchitel (1967; The First Teacher). Although Aytmatov composed in both Russian and Kyrgyz, most of his works, predominantly long short stories or novelettes, were originally written in the latter language. His major themes were love and friendship, the trials and heroism of wartime, and the emancipation of Kyrgyz youth from restrictive custom and tradition. Aytmatov was made a member of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. in 1966. In 1967 he became a member of the Executive Board of the Writers' Union of the U.S.S.R., and he was awarded the Soviet state prize for literature in 1968. His later novels, written originally in Russian, include I dolshe veka dlitsya den (1980; The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years) and Plakha (1986; The Place of the Skull).