8 September, 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the outstanding Avar poet, translator, prose writer, publicist, author of the poem “Cranes” Rasul Gamzatov. SPbGASU has assembled information stands telling about his work.

Rasul Gamzatov was known for his active social and political activities. Laureate of the Stalin and Lenin Prizes, awarded the titles of People's Poet of the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Hero of Socialist Labor. A faithful son of his people, he tirelessly translated to Avar masterpieces of Russian classics: Pushkin, Lermontov, Krylov, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Blok.

He himself never wrote in Russian and was sure that he owed his fame to the translators who conveyed his poems so wonderfully. In 1967, the lyrical story “My Dagestan” was published, in which Gamzatov described his native land and its inhabitants. He reflected on life, literature, culture, poetry and creativity.

While on a creative visit to Japan, Rasul Gamzatovich learned the tragic story of a girl from Hiroshima, Sasaki Sadako: she, who received a large dose of radiation, believed that she would recover if she managed to make a thousand paper cranes. The story moved the poet to tears. On the same day he received news of his mother's death. The shock, the memory of his father and brothers who died in the war - everything came together. And on the plane, hurrying to the funeral of his closest person, Rasul Gamzatov wrote the poem “Cranes”. It was published in Naum Grebnev's translation and made a huge impression on the famous Mark Bernes. At the request of the singer, these words were set to music by the famous composer Jan Frenkel. Thus was born a song that became a legend.