Abai Kunanbaev
| Абай Құнанбайұлы Abay Qunanbayulı Абай Құнанбаев اباي قۇنانبايۇلى Abai Kunanbaev |
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| Born | Abay (Ibrahim) Qunanbayuli 10 August 1845 Karauyl, Abay District, East Kazakhstan Province, Kazakhstan |
| Died | 6 July 1904 (aged 58) Karauyl, Abay District, East Kazakhstan Province, Kazakhstan |
| Occupation | Akyn |
| Nationality |
 Kazakh |
| Ethnicity | Kazakh |
| Notable works | The Book of Words |
Abay (Ibrahim) Qunanbayuli (Kazakh: Абай (Ибраһим) Құнанбайұлы , Abay (Ïbrahïm) Qunanbayulı, اباي (ٸبراهٸم) قۇنانبايۇلى) (August 10, 1845 – July 6, 1904) was a Kazakh poet, composer and philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultures on the basis of enlightened Islam.
Abay was born in what is today the selo of Karauyl, in Abay District, East Kazakhstan Province; the son of Qunanbay and Uljan, Qunanbay's second wife, they named him Ibrahim, but because of his brightness, he soon was given the nickname "Abay" (meaning "careful"), a name that stuck for the rest of his life. His father's economic status enabled the boy to attend a Russian school in his youth, but only after he had already spent some years studying at a madrasah under Mullah Ahmet Ryza. At his school in Semipalatinsk, Abay encountered the writings of Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Pushkin.
Abay's main contribution to Kazakh culture and folklore lies in his poetry, which expresses great nationalism and grew out of Kazakh folk culture. Before him, most Kazakh poetry was oral, echoing the nomadic habits of the people of the Kazakh steppes. During Abay's lifetime, however, a number of important socio-political and socio-economic changes occurred. Russian influence continued to grow in Kazakhstan, resulting in greater educational possibilities as well as exposure to a number of different philosophies, whether Russian, Western or Asian. Abay Qunanbayuli steeped himself in the cultural and philosophical history of these newly opened geographies. In this sense, Abay's creative poetry affected the philosophical thinking of educated Kazakhs.
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Wikipedia