Kozhamkulov, Seraly

(also Serke Kozhamkulov). Born May 5, 1896, in aul (village) no. 13, in present-day Karabalyk Raion, Kustanai Oblast. Kazakh Soviet actor. People’s Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1936). One of the first professional dramatic actors of the Kazakh SSR.

In 1920, Kozhamkulov began performing as an amateur actor. In 1925 he was invited to work as an actor and director to the newly established Kazakh Drama Theater (now the M. O. Auezov Kazakh Drama Theater in Alma-Ata). His best roles include Espembet in Auezov’s Enlik and Kebek, Karabai and Konkai in Musrepov’s Kozy-Korpesh and Baian-Slu and Akhan-Sere and Aktokty, Maibasar in an adaption of Auezov’s Abai (State Prize of the USSR, 1952), and Sly in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. A recipient of the K. Baiseitova State Prize of the Kazakh SSR in 1970, Kozhamkulov was also awarded two Orders of Lenin, three other orders, and various medals.