Sayakbay Karalaev

Sayakbay Karalaev (Kyrgyz: Саякбай Каралаев; 1894 – 7 May 1971) was a Soviet and Kyrgyz storyteller and manaschi - a reciter of the epic Kyrgyz poem Manas.^[1]

Sayakbay Karalaev
Kyrgyz: Саякбай Каралаев
Sayakbay Karalaev, as shown on the Kyrgyz 500 som note.
Born	1894 Ak-Ölöng, Semirechye Oblast, Governor-Generalship of the Steppes, Russian Empire
Died	May 7, 1971 (aged 76-77) Frunze, Kirghiz SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	Poet

His famed variant of the Manas trilogy - Manas, his son Semetey, grandson Seitek - is said to total over 500,000 lines.

He was the first official manaschi of the Frunze Philarmonia, and received a monthly salary.^[2] His version of the Manas trilogy was collected 1936-1952.^[3]

A critical edition of his version was attempted, under the editorship of Chingiz Aitmatov in the late 1980s; later, arguably complete editions of Manas, Semetey, and Seitek appeared in the early 2010s. A CD of recorded performances appeared in 2007.^[4]

A French translation of his recitation of the epic Er Töshtük was published in 1965.^[5][6]

He was the subject of a biographical feature film: Sayakbay - Homer of the 20th Century (dir. Ernest Abdyjaparov).^[7]