Nurpeis Baiganin

Born 1860; died Apr. 9, 1945, in Baiganin Raion, Aktiubinsk Oblast. Kazakh national akyn and improviser (folk poet and singer). Honored Art Worker of the Kazakh SSR.

In prerevolutionary times Baiganin echoed the misfortunes, desires, and expectations of the Kazakh people and exposed their oppressors. Later, he composed inspired improvisations about the Soviet native land, the Party, and the Soviet Army, including “October” (1938), “Lenin” (1939), “A Flourishing Life” (1939), “Moscow” (1941), “Song of a Hero” (1942), and “Twenty-five” (1942). Baiganin’s epic poems (Narqï z, Akkenje, etc.) and songs about life in the Kazakh aul (village) are well known. He also performed the heroic folk epos (Koblandïbat ïr, Yar Targï n, etc.).