Ingushetia and Moscow are marking the 95th anniversary of the birth of Caucasian classical poet Jemaldin Yandiyev, who translated verses and prose of Pushkin, Lermontov and Mayakovsky into Chechen. One of the best translators of the verses of Yandiyev into Russian was Arseny Tarkovsky.
Moscow held a literature-memorial evening in early November called “I have never confused the truth with lies”, dedicated to Yandiyev.
Mikhail Sinelnikov, a translator and poet
I knew Jemaldin Yandiyev personally, I was a close friend of Arseny Tarkovsky when I was young. He told me a lot about his experience as a translator. In addition, Tarkovsky was a great poet, he was, obviously, an ingenious translator and his works started in the North Caucasus. He told me about miraculous stories of that time, his friendship with Yandiyev remains eternal. He was translating the works brilliantly. Yandiyev’s verses, I believe, will live in Russia and perhaps there will be more, we hope so.
Ingushetia was a subject of imagery by Russian poets of the Silver Age. For example, there was a laureate of Stalin’s times, Novikov, the author of renowned novels about Pushkin. He was a good poet of the Silver Age and described an Ingush mosque in beautiful verses. And, of course, Nikolay Semenovich Tikhonov, one of the greatest poets of the Soviet times. He wrote a very interesting poem he had worked on for about 20 years – “Sergo in the mountains”. The description of Ingushetia is sympathetic and friendly, it’s remarkable.
But for us it is essential that Ingushetia speaks with the voice of its singer, the voice of folklore and folklore is ingenious. After all, he was a genius for all peoples, first of all for his strong personal poetry, especially in the 20th century and probably the brightest poet without full recognition. This forces us to understand Ingushetia from a different angle.
Renat Janibekov, a poet and composer
I actually only encountered Jemaldin Yandiyev’s poetry recently, unfortunately for me. Sometimes in the most critical and complicated moments our relatives are away. There is not the warmth they give us, but there is always the heritage they left us nearby. What Jemaldin Yandiyev and his fellows left is the most delicious water in the world brought from the Caucasus. Everyone needs it when we are here. Each of us needs to know, value and read the works of these people.
Maryam Yandiyeva, daughter of Jemaldin Yandiyev
I am very glad that youths of different nationalities, friends of Ingush young people, girls have come to the Museum of Tsvetayeva today to read verses of Jemaldin, sing his songs and express a willingness to talk at a normal, human level. This is absolutely sincere inter-ethnic harmony.
Author: VK
