Tufan, Khasan Fakhrievich

Born Nov. 27 (Dec. 10), 1900, in the village of Karmat, in what is now Aksubaevo Raion, Tatar ASSR. Soviet Tatar poet.

Tufan was one of the founders of Soviet Tatar poetry. In 1924 and 1925 he studied at the eastern division of the Kazan Pedagogical Institute. He published his first works in 1924. His narrative poems The Beginning of Beginnings, Between Two Epochs, and The Bibievs, all written in 1927, gave rise to the working-class theme in Tatar poetry.

In the 1930’s, Tufan changed from tonic verse to classical Tatar meter and folk rhythms. In the 1940’s and early 1950’s he wrote the optimistic poems “Karakums” (1947), “Solar” (1947), and “Floating Clouds” (1951). Later Tufan primarily wrote philosophical lyric poetry, for example, the poems “O Life!” (1963), “Where Are You Going, Ursa Major?” (1965), and “You Are Old as Eternity” (1966).

Tufan was awarded the G. Tukai Republican Prize in 1965. His works have been translated into the languages of the peoples of the USSR. Tufan has been awarded two orders and various medals.