Abai (Ibrahim) Kunanbayev (1845-1904) is the greatest Kazakh poet- enlightener, thinker, philosopher, bard, composer, the founder of classic Kazakh written literature. Abai was a son of sultan Kunanbai (a governor) of Eastern Kazakhstan (now it is Semipalatnisk district) and Ulzhan. They named him Ibrahim, but because of his brightness, he soon was given the nickname "Abay" (meaning "careful"), a name that stuck for the rest of his life. His father's economic status enabled the boy to attend a Russian school in his youth. Abai finished medresse (muslim religious school). He started writing poetry at school. From the very childhood Abai got deep humanitarian education. Being influenced by his mother he was fond of books and poetry. It was his mother whose love had lighted his way.
Abay's main contribution to Kazakh culture and folklore lies in his poetry, which expresses great nationalism and grew out of Kazakh folk culture. Before him, most Kazakh poetry was oral, echoing the nomadic habits of the people of the Kazakh steppes. During Abay's lifetime, however, a number of important socio-political and socio-economic changes occurred. Russian influence continued to grow in Kazakhstan, resulting in greater educational possibilities as well as exposure to a number of different philosophies, whether Russian, Western or Asian. Abay stepped himself in the cultural and philosophical history of these newly-opened geographies. In this sense, Abay's creative poetry affected the philosophical thinking of educated Kazakhs.
Abai translated works of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gothe, Tolstoi, Saltykov-Schedrin and other poets and writers into Kazakh. His works urge people to labor and struggle for reorganization of life. A lot of his poems are dedicated to new attitude to the family, the parents' duty, education young generation. HE described nature, life and traditions of common people poetically. Abai’s poetry has prose and music is full of deep lyricism, soft humour, exposure of disgrace, great love to his nation. The most famous Abai’s work is "Words of Edification". His poems "Masgut", "Eskendyr" (Alexander the Great), "Black eyes" etc. became the classic not only for Kazakh but also for the world literature.
Contemporary Kazakhs images of Abay generally depict him in full traditional dress holding a dombra (the Kazakh national instrument). Today, Kazakhs revere Abay as one of the first folk heroes to enter into the national consciousness of his people. Almaty State University is named after Abay, so is one of the main avenues in the city of Almaty. There are also public schools with his name. The city of Abay is named after him. Statues of him have been erected in many cities of Kazakhstan, as well as in Moscow. A film on the life of Abay was made by Kazakhfilm in 1995, titled Abai. He is also the subject of two novels by Mukhtar Auezov, other Kazakhstani writers.
