Kazakhstan mourns over death of prominent public and political figure Abish Kekilbayev
Hero of Labour, people's writer of Kazakhstan, State Prize Laureat, linguist, academician of the Social Sciences Academy, Honorary Professor of the al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Eurasian National Gumilyov University.
Abish Kekilbayev was born December 6, 1939 in Ondy village, Mangyshlak region (Mangystau region today). In 1962 he graduated from the Philology Faculty of the S.M.Kirov Kazakh State University.
He served as Deputy Minister of Culture of the Kazakh SSR, 2nd Secretary of the Board of Writers' Union, head of department of the Kazakhstan Communist Party Central Committee, Head of the Records Office for Culture and Inter-Ethnic Relations of the Kazakh SSR Presidential Administration. He worked as a copy reader for the "Kazakh Literature" newspaper, and Head of Literature and Art Department at the editorial office of the "Leninshil Zhas" newspaper.
Abish Kekilbayev was elected Deputy of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan (12th and 13th convocation), Chairman of the National Policy, Culture and Language Development Committee of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan. From April 1994 through May 1995 he was the Chairman of the Republic of Kazakhstan Supreme Council (13th convocation).
In May 1995 Kekilbayev was appointed State Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In December 1995 he was elected Deputy of the Majilis of the Kazakh Parliament (1st convocation), Chairman of the Committee for International Affairs, Defense and Security of the Majilis.
From October 1996 through January 2002 he served as Secretary of State of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In 2002, by the Presidential Decree, he was appointed Deputy of the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament.
Member of "Assar" Party Parliamentary Faction. Member of the National Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, People's Assembly of Kazakhstan. Member of the Organization of the Central Asian Countries. Member of the Group of Cooperation with the U.S. Congress, the House of Councillors of Japan and the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia.
Abish Kekilbayev was famous for translation of the novels by Guy de Maupassant "Pierre et Jean", "Une vie ou L'Humble Vérité," Chingiz Aitmatov's story "Cranes Fly Early" and participation in translation of Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" and I.Bunin's works.
"King Lear", "Romeo and Juliet" by Shakespeare, "Princess Turandot" by Carlo Gozzi, "On the Night of the Lunar Eclipse" by Mustai Karim, "Don Juan oder Die Liebe zur Geometrie" by Max Frisch and "Ghosst" by Henrik Ibsen were also translated by Kekilbayev and were included in the repertoires of Kazakhstani theatres.
Abish Kekilbayev is the author of a collection of poems "Golden Rays" (1963) and a collection of stories "A Flock of Cloud" (1966), "Steppe Ballades" (1968), articles "Face to Face with Time", essays "Cranes", "Steppe Ballades", "Snow in March", "The Ballades of the Forgotten Years", "The End of a Legend" and "Pleiades - Constellations of Hopes."
Awards: Hero of Labour of Kazakhstan, Order of Otan, Order of "The 1st President of the Republic of Kazakhstan", "10th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" medal, "10th Anniversary of the Republic of Kazakhstan Parliament" medal, "10th Anniversary of Astana" medal, Laureate of the Abai State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Laureate of the Presidential Peace and Spiritual Accord Prize, "Commonwealth" Order of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.
Honorary Resident of Mangystau region.