The Code of the Word

Olzhas Suleimenov was bornin Alma-Ata (currently Almaty)Kazakhstan in 1936. He graduatedKazakh State University in 1959 andthen Gorky Institute of Literature inMoscow in 1961. Between 1962and1971 he actively worked as ajournalist and in 1983 he becamethe head of the Kazakhstan's WritersUnion. He works are written in theRussian language. His most celebratednovel Az and I was published in 1975.The novel created a great stir and wascriticized by the literary elite in Russia.Suleimenov was charged with national chauvinism and glorificationof feudal nomadic culture. His other works include: Argamaks (1961)Earth Bow to the Man (1961) Kind Time of Sunrise (1964) Year ofthe Monkey (1967) The Book of Clay (1969) and Prehistoric Turks -On the Origins of Ancient Turkic Languages and Writing (2002).Suleimenov earned great acclaim on a global scale in 1989when he organized the international environmental movementNevada - Semipalatinsk which campaigned for the closure ofboth the nuclear test sites in the Nevada desert as well as in theSemipalatinsk Province of Kazakhstan.In 1995 Suleimenov was appointed asKazakhstan's Official Ambassador to theVatican. From 2002 onwards he servedas Kazakhstan's Ambassador for theUNESCO in Paris. The Code of the Wordis one of his latest literary works.