APersonIndependent states
Olzhas Suleimenov
Poet and thinker (b. 1936), author of Az i Ya and founder of the Nevada–Semipalatinsk movement that closed the nuclear test site.
Olzhas Suleimenov was born in Almaty and first trained as a geologist. His 1961 poem "Earth, Bow to Man!", dedicated to Yuri Gagarin's flight, made him famous throughout the USSR.
In Az i Ya (1975) he examined The Tale of Igor's Campaign in the light of its Turkic words; the book was banned but provoked great debate in Turkology.
In 1989 he founded the Nevada–Semipalatinsk anti-nuclear movement, a popular campaign that helped bring about the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site in 1991. He later served as Kazakhstan's permanent representative to UNESCO.
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Updated: October 2, 2026