Galiaskar Kamal

Galiaskar Kamal was a Tatar Soviet writer, a classic of Tatar drama, and a public figure. He was born on January 6, 1879 in Kazan and spent his childhood in the village of Nizhnyaya Masra in the Arsky district.

He studied at the Kazan madrasa «Госмания», and from 1889 to 1897 continued his education at the «Мухаммадия» madrasa. Kamal was an active participant in public life: in 1901 he founded the newspaper «Тәраккый» ('Progress') and the publishing house «Мәгариф» ('Enlightenment'). Later he contributed to the newspapers «Азат» ('Freedom') and «Азат халык» ('Free People'), publishing articles that promoted Marxist ideas. He also published and edited the satirical magazine «Яшен» ('Lightning') and worked at the newspaper «Йолдыз» ('Star'). His literary activity began in 1900.

Among Kamal's best-known works are the drama «Несчастный юноша» ('The Unfortunate Youth') and the comedies «Из-за подарка» ('Because of a Gift'), «Любовница» ('The Mistress'), «Тайны нашего города» ('Secrets of Our Town') and «Банкрот» ('The Bankrupt'). After the October Revolution Kamal wrote satirical poems and worked with the newspapers «Эш» ('Labor') and «Кызыл байрак» ('Red Banner'). He also worked on translations, adapting into Tatar works by Gogol ('The Government Inspector'), Ostrovsky ('The Storm') and Gorky ('The Lower Depths'). Galiaskar Kamal died on June 16, 1933 in Kazan.