Chinghiz Aitmatov

Chinghiz Aitmatov was born in the village of Sheker in the Talas valley. His father Torekul Aitmatov was a victim of the 1938 purges, and his childhood was spent in the hard village life of the war years.

Jamila (1958) made him famous worldwide; Louis Aragon called it "the most beautiful love story in the world". It was followed by Farewell, Gulsary!, The White Steamship, The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years and The Place of the Skull.

He wrote in both Kyrgyz and Russian, and his books have sold some 80 million copies. He died in Nuremberg in 2008 and is buried beside his father at the Ata-Beyit memorial near Bishkek.