MASHKHUR ZHUSIP KOPEYEV
He was born near Kyzyltau of Bayanaul district of Pavlodar region. Mashkhur studied at madrasah of Hamereddin Hazrat. Getting acquainted with masterpieces of oral literature he learnt by heart folk tails and poems. At 15 he took the path of poetry.
In 1872 he graduated from madrasah in Kogiltash, Bukhara, where he received higher Muslim education, worked as a techer in the native village.
His articles, poems, sketches were published in "Dala ualayaty" newspaper and "Aikap" magazine. In 1887-1890 he visited Samarkand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Turkestan and other cities. Acquaintance with Russian orientalist-turcologist, ethnographer V.Radlov influenced on formation of M.Kopeyev's interest in gathering of the Kazakh folklore. In 1872 started gathering samples of oral literature of North and Central Kazakhstan.
In 1917 his books "Hal-ahual", "Saryarka kimdiki?", etc were published in Kazan. In 1930 he started to build his own tomb, controlling the construction and giving instructions. The tomb consisted of two rooms one of which he instructed to leave open and bury him there. Mashkhur Zhusip predicted the day of his death. Probably, he foresaw that 1932 would be the year of miseries, sufferings.
Source: Kazakhstan, National Encyclopedia, vol. 3
"Historical figures" book