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Magtymguly-

P

y r gy

The pride of the

Turkmen nation

290th anniversary

of the birth of the great poet

"The poetical world of Pyragy is, in fact, the Turkmen
philosophy generated in the course of millennia, a
melody of the Turkmen soul, an invincible spirit of a
Turkmen."
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov
President of Turkmenistan

n the culture of any nation, the world's cultural treasures. His substance and essence of the nation's
there is one striking perso- literary creations rank with the spiritual and moral/aesthetic iden-
I nality -- someone who expresses poetry of Goethe, Shakespeare, tity. It is difficult to overestimate the
the principal characteristics of the Dante, Pushkin and Byron. role of Magtymguly in the develop-
national mentality. For the Turkmen ment of socio-political thought, as
people that person is Magtymguly; This year, Turkmenistan celebrates well as the outstanding significance
his work reflects the traits of the na- the 290th anniversary of the birth of the poet's work in the spiritual
tion's spiritual character and national of the great poet, who is not only a development of the nation.
self-image. Magtymguly Pyragy was remarkable historical figure closely
a great artist of the written word, the connected with his epoch, but a living Though the actual years of the birth
creator of wonderful poems which image that continues to influence us. and death of the great son of the
told the world about the millennium- This remarkable occasion will be ex- Turkmen people, Magtymguly, are
long formation of the nation's philo- tensively and solemnly celebrated in unknown, there is a great deal of
sophy, dreams and the hopes of its our country and far beyond. information available from hand-
people. In his memoirs, the acade- written sources and folk legends. A
mician and researcher of Oriental It is symbolic that the international lot more about the life of poet can be
history, Vasiliy Bartold, wrote: "The organization TURKSOY has also inferred from his poems themselves.
Turkmens are the only Turkic nation announced that 2014 will be "The On the basis of his poems, it may
which has its own national poet; Year of Magtymguly Pyragy, the be assumed that Magtymguly was
living in the eighteenth century, renowned poet and master of Turk- born in the late 1720s/early 1730s,
Magtymguly was recognized by the men literature, the philosopher and in the region of Kara-Kala (now
Turkmens who inhabited the terri- great thinker of the East." Magtymguly district in the Balkan
tory from the Stavropol province up province), in the settlement of Haji-
to the banks of Amudarya River". In the history of our country, it is Govshan in the valley of Turkmenis-
perhaps difficult to find any other poet tan's Atrek River. His father was a
Having devoted his life to the study with whose creative work the people famous poet and religious thinker,
of universal values, Magtymguly identify. Pyragy's poetry is asso- Dovletmamed Azadi (1700-1760),
became one of the brightest global ciated with the nation's self-image who had a profound influence on
personalities in the spiritual/intel- and the national literary heritage the formation of his son's spiritual
lectual universe. The poet's literary -- all that is light, wonderful and outlook. In middle age, the poet
heritage is not only a national asset good in what the Turkmen people had adopted the pseudonym Pyragy
for the Turkmen people, but part of value most, that which contains the [meaning "separated"].

36 History
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