Majit Gafuri

Majit Gafuri (, ; , ; ; 20 July [ O.S. 8 July] 188028 October 1934) was a Bashkir and Tatar poet, writer, and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the democratic trend in Tatar literature and one of the founders of national children's literature.

Biography Gufari was born to a Tatar-speaking teacher family, in the village of Zilim-Karanovo (now Gafuriysky District, Bashkortostan). At an early age, he showed an aptitude for teaching and in 1893 his father arranged for him to study at a madrasa in a neighboring village. In 1898, he entered the in Troitsk, where he studied until 1905. During his spare time, Gafuri worked in Zakir Ramiev's gold mines and taught Kazakh children on the steppe. In 1905, he studied at the famous Kazan Möxämmädiä madrasa and then, in 1906, at the Ğäliä madrasa in Ufa. He remained in Ufa after finishing his studies in 1908.

He wrote his first poem in Tatar, "" (, I am a Student), in 1902, which was followed in 1904 by his first book, (, The Siberian Railway, or the State of the Nation), was published in Orenburg.

Personal life Gafuri married Zöhrä Nasıyrova (, 1892–1938), the daughter of tailors from Kilem, Buzdyaksky District. They had two sons.

Legacy

In 1940, the Krasnousolsky District of the Bashkir ASSR was renamed Gafuriysky District in Gafuri's honor. In 1948, the opened in the house in Ufa where Gafuri lived from 1924 to 1934. It was one of the first literary museums in Bashkortostan. In 1961, was established in the Oktyabrsky district of Ufa. In 1971, the Bashkir Academic Drama Theater was renamed in Gafuri's honor and a monument to him was added in 1978. Across Russia, some 200 streets bear Gafuri's name.