Durdy Klych

Born in 1886 in present-day Takhta Raion; died Dec. 14, 1950, in the aul (village) of Khodzhakumbat, Tashauz Raion. Soviet Turkmenian folk poet and storyteller.

The son of a peasant, Durdy Klych went blind as a child. He composed songs about Turkmenia’s past, about the life of the Turkmenian woman, who was deprived of all her rights (“Tumarly”), and about the bitter lot of the aul (village) poor (“Eshekli”). Durdy Klych wrote such poems as “Wealthy Landowners,” “Poor People,” and “Lenin.” He composed patriotic songs during the Great Patriotic War.