We Are Stars of the Same Sky
The story of Pavlo Tychyna's fascination with Crimean Tatar culture.
The story of Pavlo Tychyna's fascination with Crimean Tatar culture.
The presented books by A. Latif-zade "New Saz" (1928) and the Literary Almanac "Ascent" (1932) in the Crimean Tatar language are not accidental in the poet's library. Back in the mid-1920s, after moving to Kharkiv, Pavlo Tychyna became interested in studying Eastern languages — Armenian and Turkish. This came in handy for his Orientalist studies (a little-known fact from the poet's biography), because in 1926 Pavlo Tychyna was one of the founders of the Association of Oriental Studies of Ukraine, which united various sections. The poet himself became a member of the section for translation from Eastern languages.
Oleksandr Ivanovych Hubar (1932-2003) — a teacher, publicist, literary critic, Tychyna scholar, and professor of Taurida National University — made great efforts to study the connections between Pavlo Tychyna and Crimean Tatar literature. He was personally acquainted with Pavlo Hryhorovych. Oleksandr Ivanovych dedicated the articles "Mій труд, моє горіння… (Кримські сторінки творчості Павла Тичини)" ("My Work, My Burning... [Crimean Pages of Pavlo Tychyna's Work]") and "Ми зорі одного неба: Павло Тичина і татарська література" ("We Are Stars of the Same Sky: Pavlo Tychyna and Tatar Literature") to this topic. It is in the article "We Are Stars of the Same Sky" that there is information about the book of poetry by Abdulla Latif-zade "Yany Saz" ("New Saz").
The poet first set foot on Crimean soil in August 1925, coming to Alushta for a rest. From a letter to Lidia Paparuk, his assistant and future wife, we learn that the poet was immediately interested in the literature and culture of the Crimean Tatars: "I was at the Tatar club; in the bookshop I bought Tatar books, though I still understand little, but I read" (studying the Turkish language enabled him to understand the closely related Tatar language).
A. Latif-zade, "New Saz" (1928)
LMMK of P.H. Tychyna in Kyiv, KV 21440 MB 9445
Mikhailo Kotsiubynskyi, whom fate threw to Crimea at the end of the 19th century, awakened in Pavlo Tychyna a great interest in the life of the Crimean Tatar people. He visited markets, Tatar schools, studied their way of life, customs, and language, and was interested in the history of the region and the architecture of cities and towns. The writer was fascinated by the beauty of Crimean nature. He told all this to the young Pavlo Tychyna in an excited and poetic way.
Later, Pavlo Tychyna met the prominent Crimean Tatar poet Abdulla Latif-zade, whom he invited to write an article about the state of Crimean Tatar literature for the magazine "Chervonyi Shlyakh" (The Red Way), where he worked while living in Kharkiv — the then capital of Ukraine. The article, entitled "A Brief Overview of Crimean Tatar Literature", was published in Ukrainian in the December eleventh issue of the magazine for 1927. This was one of the first articles to introduce the Ukrainian reader to Crimean Tatar literature.
As a sign of respect, A. Latif-zade presented Pavlo Tychyna with his book of poetry "Yany Saz" ("New Saz"), which is kept in Tychyna's personal memorial library. On the flyleaf of the book is an autograph: "To the sensitive singer — the great master Comrade Pavlo Tychyna from the author. Ab. Latifzade. Simferopol. 11.08.1928."
KV 23999 MB 21097 A. Latif-zade, literary almanac "Ascent" (1932)
LMMK of P.H. Tychyna in Kyiv, KV 336 MR 358
The literary almanac of Crimean Tatar literature "Ascent" for October 1932 was probably purchased during one of the regular trips to Crimea or sent by mail to Kharkiv to Pavlo Hryhorovych. There are no dedicatory inscriptions. Among the authors of the almanac is the writer Umer Ipchi, author of many novels, plays, screenplays, and poems. Pavlo Tychyna highly praised Umer Ipchi's screenplay "Alim". Mykola Bazhan, who at that time worked as an editor at VUFKU, participated in the work on the screenplay. This film was shown with great success in cinemas throughout Ukraine.
Once, at a meeting with Tatar poets, Pavlo Tychyna, touching upon the relations of peoples, cultures, and individuals, said: "Let's live like stars. After all, we are stars of the same sky."
The information was prepared by the head of the scientific department of collection and exhibition work at the Literary Memorial Museum-Apartment of P.H. Tychyna in Kyiv, Nesterchuk D.V.