Saken Seyfullin (15 October 1894 – 28 February 1939) was a pioneer of modern Kazakh literature, poet and writer, and national activist. Founder and first head of the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan, he was the author of controversial literature calling for greater independence of Kazakhs from Soviet and Russian power. He met repression and was executed in 1939. The Soviet government posthumously rehabilitated

Rehabilitation (Soviet)

Rehabilitation in the context of the former Soviet Union, and the Post-Soviet states, was the restoration of a person who was criminally prosecuted without due basis, to the state of acquittal...

 him during de-Stalinization

De-Stalinization

De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...

.

Biography

Seyfullin was born 15 October 1894 in a nomadic settlement in what is today Karagandy Province.

Education

From 1905 to 1908, Seyfullin studied in a Russian-Kazakh school in the Spassk brass works. He went on to study in Akmola in the primary parish school and the Akmola three-class city school. In addition, he taught Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 at a Muslim madrasah

Madrasah

Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...

. On August 21 of 1913, Seifullin entered the Omsk

Omsk

-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...

 teaching seminarium. His first article was published in the November edition of Ay Qap

Ay Qap

Ay Qap was a Kazakh journal of opinion and debate published in Troitsk from January 1911 until September 1915 under the editorship of Muxametžan Seralin...

magazine. It was at this time that he began to be spied upon by the Omsk okhrana, the secret police.

In 1914, Seyfullin became one of the heads of the first cultural and educational society of Kazakh youth, Birlik (Unity) in Omsk. His book of poetry (Past Days) was published that year.

In 1916, he worked on a property census commission for the 12 volost

Volost

Volost was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.In earlier East Slavic history, volost was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ruler or with varying degree of autonomy from the Velikiy Knyaz...

s of Akmola Uezd. In that year he wrote the poem Volnenie (Unrest), dedicated to Central Asian unrest in 1916. From September 1 of 1916 he taught in Bugula school, which he had a hand in founding.

On 9 March 1917 he moved to Akmola, where he wrote a welcoming poem for the February revolution

February Revolution

The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...

, "Спешно собрались мы в поход". In April of that year, Seyfullin created a social-political and cultural society named Жас қазақ (Young Kazakh). In July, he participated in issue of Tirshilik (Life) newspaper. In September, Seyfullin began teaching three-month pedagogical courses in the new Russian-Kazakh school in Akmolinsk.

Right after the Russian Revolution, Seyfullin wrote a poem, "А ну-ка, джигиты!", which is said to be the first work of Kazakh Soviet literature. On 27 December 1917, the Soviet regime was established in Akmolinsk. Seyfullin was elected a member of the Akmola Deputy Board and was appointed national commissar of education. In February, he was admitted to the Party. On 1 May 1918 was held the premiere of a play by Seyfullin, "Бақыт жолына" (On the Way of Happiness).

Civil War

When on June 4, 1918, the White Guard

White Guard

The term White Guard may refer to:* White Guard , part of the White Army of the 1918 Finnish Civil War* White Guard , part of the Axis colaborators in Slovenia during the Second World War* Military arm of the Russian White movement...

 conducted a revolution, Seyfullin was arrested and sent to Petropavlovsk

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: .-History:It was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy...

 jail. He was put in a Death Carriage of Ataman

Ataman

Ataman was a commander title of the Ukrainian People's Army, Cossack, and haidamak leaders, who were in essence the Cossacks...

 Michael Annenkoff

Michael Annenkoff

General Mikhail Nikolayevich Annenkov was a Russian nobleman, author, military officer, and renowned engineer...

, where he spent 47 days. He broke out of Kolchak Prison and reached his village by July. After two month he was forced to fleefor Taraz

Taraz

Taraz , is a city and a center of the Jambyl Province in Kazakhstan. It is located in the south of Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan, on the Talas River...

.

Capture and execution

Seyfullin was captured by the agents of the NKVD from Moscow in February 1939 and executed in Almaty

Almaty

Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...

, Kazakh SSR

Kazakh SSR

The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Kazakh SSR for short, was one of republics that made up the Soviet Union.At in area, it was the second largest constituent republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata . Today it is the independent state of...

, deemed a "threat to the society" and a "nationalist". However, since Independence

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

, Saken Seyfullin is often considered one of the most influential Kazakh thinkers of the 21st century, a major contributor to Kazakh culture and literature, and a martyr for freedom.