Biography of Razil Valeev

Razil Ismagilovich Valeev was born on the 4th of January, 1947, in Tashlyk village of Nizhnekamsk region of Tatarstan. He got primary education in the native village, then studies in an eight-year school in the nearby village of Shingalchi and in Nizhnekamsk secondary school.

There were eight children in Valeevs’ family. As the eldest son, Razil was to do all man’s work. His grandfather taught him to hold an axe, to grind corn in the mill, to peel cereals. During the summer holidays he worked as a combiner’s and driver’s assistant, mowed hay together with the grown-ups.

Razil Valeev is one of the brightest and most original writers of our republic. As early as in the primary school, he takes great interest in literature, writes poems and stories, his first poems are published in local newspaper. The poet considers a literature club at Chelny regional newspaper to be his first creative school.

In 1965 he enters the Journalism Department at Kazan University. In Kazan the young poet closely communicates with the poets of the sixties – R.Faizullin, R.Gataullin, R.Mingalim, G.Rakhim, competes in poetic skill with his peers Zulfat, Mudarris Aglyamov.

Being a student of Kazan University and then of Literature Institute named after M.Gorkiy of the USSR Writers’ Union, the poet attracts attention of the readers, literature critics, writers, and composers. Razil Valeev’s poerty is distinguished by elevated civicism and spirituality, his lyrical character is always at the pivot of life. At the same time Razil Valeev’s works are full of delicate lyrics and deep philosophy, full of people’s life. There is the world – beautiful and agitated, joyous and perturbed. R.Valeev addresses to those features which are necessary for the spiritual-moral molding of a personality.

Razil Valeev considers the years of studies in Moscow to be the hardest but the happiest in his life. For five years he studied in Moscow Institute with poets and writers, he lived in a hostel where even walls and curtains are speckled with rhymed lines. In Moscow he creates a family and becomes a father. But it is impossible to feed the family on a student’s scholarship, so the young poet takes a nightshift job at the smith workshop of an automobile plant. It is hard to listen to lectures after the thunder of plant presses and machines. At weekends he unloads goods vans at Moscow railway stations, works as labourer at factories.

During the student years his poems are broadly published in collections, he participates in poetic parties and disputes.

The literature works by Razil Valeev comprise all basic genres – poetry, prose, and drama. His first collection of poems «Blue seashells» (1971) is devoted to the philosophical reflections over cardinal moral problems. After the publication of his collections «Lightning root» (1977), «Heart memory» (1987) the critics calls him “a poet of passionate thought”. The main themes of Razil Valeev’s poetry are native land, nature, destination of the Universe. It is full of elevated ideas and romantic pathos.

One of those, who paid close attention to the student’s works, was a well-known poet Lev Oshanin. Personal contact with the master of song poetry, the author of worldwide known songs, gives a new impetus to the young poet’s work – Razil Valeev begins writing songs. And later, having made friends with an outstanding singer Ilgam Shakirov and written, by his advice, songs “Wave”, “Morning song”, ”Let’s share an apple to five”, the poet sinks into creating song. R.Valeev’s songs are so popular that many well-known singers perform them – I.Shakirov, A.Afzalova, Kh.Bigichev, Z.Sungatullina, V.Ganiyeva, R.Ibragimov, R.Sakhabiyev, R.Ibragimova, A.Valeev, A.Faizrakhmanov. Well-known composers cooperate with the poet – R.Yakhin, A.Bakirov, I.Shamsutdinov, M.Yarullin, F.Akhmetov, R.Kalimullin, L.Batyr-Bolgari, R.Akhiyarova, M.Shamsutdinova, R.Abdullin, Sh.Timerbulatov, L.Khairutdinova and others.

They say, if you want to know the people’s soul, listen to its songs. The words are true. But songs are not born by themselves. They are composed by the people, the authors talented and spiritual. The more talented the author, the broader his soul, the brighter the song he makes, the more favourite it is among the people, and the longer it lives. Such are Razil Valeev’s songs “Vatanym”, “Tatarstan”, “Missing”, “Why are you getting older, Mum?”, “The brightest star” and many others, which express the Tatar people’s soul, which characterize our Motherland, people’s culture, traditions and customs. These songs make it possible to say that the poet’s soul became a true part of people’s soul.

During his studies in Moscow Razil Valeev tries himself in drama genre. His plays became a notable event in Tatar culture. They raise acute issues of modern life, they are interesting to stage and to watch. Here the artist’s talent dominates over the stylistic direction of the works. His drama is of poetic character: there are author’s songs constituting an organic fiber of his works. R.Valeev’s comedies “Let’s go and watch the girls” (staged in 1989) and “I mashina, mashina, kitte minem bashyma” (“Prize # 19171991”, staged in 1990) have been for many years successfully performed on the stage of Tatar Drama and Comedy Theatre.

After graduating the Literature Institute Razil Valeev returns to Kazan and works in “Yalkyn” magazine: first as a literature worker, then head of the department, later – as an executive secretary. During these years he actively works in children’s literature. He publishes two poetic books, stories for small children. He translates into Tatar the foreign folk fairy tales, “Le petit prince” by A. de Saint-Exupry, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Book of Jungle” by R.Kipling. These books were recently published as separate books and are very popular with young readers.

Razil Valeev is also known as a prosaist. At 21 he has already written his first novel “Dog’s sun”. Having read the novel in manuscript, the Tatarstan People’s writer Ayaz Gilyazov estimated it very highly. R.Valeev’s prose is an organic continuation of his poetry, it is a kind of poetic development, a progressive motion of the single creative process. We should particularly mention the novel “Willing to live!” which narrates about a heroic deed of our fellow-countryman Rifkat Mirgazizov, who repeated in peaceful time the heroic deed of A.Matrosov. This work attracted attention of many publishing houses, magazines and almanacs. The novel stepped over the Republic boundaries. Translated into Russian and published in Moscow, it became the heritage of many peoples, the heritage of great literature.

R.Valeev’s favourite prosaic genre is a short novel, preferably of documentary character. The novel “Willing to live!” in 1982 was awarded with Tatarsttan Republic prize named after M.Jalil.

In different years his prosaic books are published, such as “Miras” (novels, 1990), “Willing to live!” (novels by Tatar writers, Moscow, “Detskaya Literatura” Publishers, 1983). Novels under this title are published as separate books in the Moscow Publishing House “Sovremennik” in 1986, in “Detskaya Literatura” Publishing House in 1989. In 2004 Tatar Book Publishing House published R.Valeev’s collection of stories and novels “The old watch goes right”. This collection became a favourite book for different generations of readers and got a lot of positive responses. Tatarstan People’s writer Tufan Minnullin, a well-known prosaist Marsel Galiev, literature critics Rafael Mustafin and Daniya Zagidullina highly estimated these works. The collection was acknowledged as the most widely read book of 2006. In 2007 a poet and writer Razil Ismagilovich Valeev was awarded the Tatarstan State prize named after Gabdulla Tukai for this book and the collection of songs “Yadkar’” (“Rukhiyat” Publishing House, 2005).

R.Valeev combines active literature creative work with great public activity. In 1976-81 he was executive secretary of Naberezhniye Chelny organization of the Tatarstan Republic Writers’ Union. Until now people in Chelny remember him with particular warmth. During the four years of his work the writers’ organization became stronger, the Chelny writers published their works in various publishing houses, literature parties, meetings, conferences and forums of All-Union level were organized in the city and the region. Here the poet and prosaist Razil Valeev showed himself as a good organizer. In the same period he was elected a member of the USSR Writers’ Union Board and a deputy of municipal council.

In 1984 at the Republic Writers’ Union session Razil Valeev was elected Vice Chairman of the Tatarstan Writers’ Union board. Here, just like in Chelny, he does not sit in his office, but organizes Days of Tatar literature in different republics, in Moscow and other large cities, gives much energy to establishing Literature Worker’s House in Kazan. Just in a year he goes to the planet’s hottest spot – Afghanistan. During his two-month stay there he traveled all over the burning country, meeting his fellow-countrymen who were shedding their blood for a foreign country. From the numerous sketches, articles, poems and songs written by R.Valeev, the republic learned about its sons more than from newspapers and other official mass media.

In 1986-2000 R.Valeev worked as a director of the Republic of Tatarstan National library, at the same time in 1990-95 he was the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan State Council on culture and national issues. At present R.Valeev is the member of Presidium of the Republic of Tatarstan State Council and the Chairman of Committee on culture, science, education and national issues. He is the Chairman of Supervising Council of the Republic of Tatarstan National library, Vice Chairman of the Tatar PEN-centre of the World writers’ association.

In 1997 the poet was awarded with the honorable title of Academician of the Russian Academy of Humanities, and in 2007 he becomes a correspondent member of the International Academy of Social Sciences. In 2005 R.Valeev successfully defends the candidate’s thesis in History.

Razil Valeev’s name is well-known abroad. He represents our republic at many international conferences and symposiums, gives reports and lectures in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Turkey, Poland, Israel, China, Spain, Korea, Japan. The poet is awarded with International silver medal “For merits in reservation and development of civilization, life and culture on Earth”. The biographical centres in the USA and Great Britain elected Razil Valeev a member of their boards and included his biography into the World Encyclopedia “Who is who”. In 1993 the American Biographical Institute (Northern Carolina) confers on Razil Valeev an honorable title “Person of the 20th century”.

The high estimation of Razil Valeev’s state, public and creative work was publicly given in different years by such well-known people as Mintimer Shaimiyev, Ilgam Shakirov, Lev Oshanin, Ayaz Gilyazov, Rafael Mustafin, Fasil Akhmetov, Abrar Karimullin, Mukhamet Magdiyev, Makhmut Khasanov, Nurikhan Fattakh, Tufan Minnullin, Mirkasym Usmanov, Marsel Galiyev, Garai Rakhim, Professor of Marmora University in Istanbul Nadir Devlet, Professor of New York University Rifat Tabi and others.

However, as the proverb says, “It is not the name that makes the man… The author of more than thirty books, plays, a hundred songs, a well-known public and culture figure Razil Valeev is up to now full of concerns, things to take care of and to create. He actively works in the Republic of Tatarstan State Council, the publishing houses prepare his books for publication, and on his desk there are manuals of new works, projects of new activities, plans and letters, letters, letters – to a writer, to a deputy and to a person.