The modern-age Chechen literature started in the 1920s when writers and poets in Chechnya established contacts with colleagues in other parts of the Soviet Union. It was a close concern of such great founding fathers of the Soviet literature as A.Serafimovich, M.Gorky and M.Golodny. A.Serafimovich was a frequent visitor to Chechnya at the time. In 1929, he attended an executive meeting of the Grozny Association of Proletarian Writers. In an address to the gathering, he called on the Chechen writers 'to move as one into real life'. In 1930, he sponsored the publication of a Russian version of the poem 'To the Time of the Tsars' by the Chechen poet Said Baduyev. The poem was published in the opening issue of the NA PODYEME ('On the Rise') literary journal. In the late 1920s and in the opening half of the 1930s, M.Gorky was in overall charge of inter-ethnic literary exchanges within the Soviet Union. His favourite method was dispatching writer support brigades to outlying Soviet republics and regions. Said Baduyev in 1932 responded to this by publishing an essay entitled 'Maxim Gorky is Our Teacher'. In 1931, Chechnya welcomed a delegation of Soviet literary luminaries including the poet M.Golodny, the prosaic I.Rakhillo and the senior official of the State Publishing Company Ya.Cherniak. That memorable brigade advanced the mutually beneficial literary exchanges by initiating massive translation work. M.Golodny translated into Russian a string of poems by the founder of the modern-age Chechen literature S.Baduyev. Baduyev, in turn, received tangible assistance in his work to translate Russian literature into Chechen. Drawn together by shared literary approaches and convictions, the two poets became close lifetime friends. Not an isolated case. Similarly, literary contact forged friendship between the prominent Osetian writer Dzakho Gatuyev and one of the founders of the modern Chechen literature Magomet Mamakayev. Gatuyev first spotted young Mamakayev by Mamakayev's article 'How You Should Not Write About Chechnya' in the journal REVOLUTSIA Y GORETS ('Revolution and the Highlander') in 1928. In it, Mamakayev blasted a renowned writer for bias in his approach to the history of the Chechen people. He later named Gatuyev his literary guru and remembered this; "It was Dzakho who on that memorable far-away May morning in 1928 took me, a young Chechen, to the Byelorussian Rail Terminal in Moscow to greet the founder of the Soviet literature Maxim Gorky who was returning from Italy. It was he who introduced me, an aspiring poet, to Mayakovski and Bagritski. I remember he told me to recite some of my poems in Chechen before the author of 'Thought About Opanas'. Gatuyev induced E.Bagritski to become the first translator of my poetry into Russian."
(more...)

Famous Chechens
Scientists
Magomet Akhtakhanov (1893-1920)

In the beginning of the last century there was a man who had been destined to become the first Chechen doctor. Just how talented a young boy from a poor family in the village of Goyti must be, so that by the age of 7 hed be prepared to enter a school, which was then the equivalent of Western grammar schools!? Having successfully passed entrance examinations in the Stavropol male classical gymnasium Magomet Akhtakhanov was entitled to receive the so-called "grant for the residents of the mountain areas. On top of that, his father also lent a hand offering his son some of his soldiers wages, when in the same year he was enlisted in the Chechen Hundred, a special detachment of the imperial army, which was then at war with Japan. In the gymnasium Magomet Akhtakhanov studied history, philosophy, geography, mathematics, physics, Latin, French and German. In 1912, having received some money raised by the people from his native village, he went to Moscow to join the medical faculty of the Moscow University. The University Dean received a letter of credentials from the Society for Education and Dissemination of Technical Information amongst the residents of the Terek mountain areas, which read: "Our Board is seeking your attention only because to date there have been no doctors among the Chechen people. We are sure that as a doctor Magomet Akhtakhanov will do a lot of good to his people". Even as a university student, Magomet Akhtakhanov, coming home on a vacation, gave lessons to young people willing to join primary and secondary schools. And in May of 1917, having received the title of a doctor, he returned to his native village of Goyti to organize the first medical station there. Soon Magomet Akhtakhanov was appointed the district physician, and later - acting Senior Physician of the Grozny military hospital. About the same time he became one of the organizers of the Society for Furthering Education of Chechens". At the same time Magomet Akhtakhanov was engaged in training nurses in his native Goyti. And soon, after the Civil war broke out, his students started acting as nurses the main support of physicians treating the wounded. In 1919, physician Magomet Akhtakhanov joined the Bolsheviks fighting Denikins army near Goyti and the Fortress Vozdvizhenskaya. After the defeat of Denikin, he was elected a member of the Revolution Committee of Chechnya and appointed the chief of the regional public health department. However, the aftermath of the typhus, which he contracted in trenches, was very grave. In July 1920 the disease has taken the life of the first hechen doctor. Magomet Akhtakhanov lived only 27 years.
(more about famous chechens...)

Chechen cuisine
Meat
Chicken a la Chechnya (one portion)

Chicken 208g., salt 3g., onions 5g. For the sauce: butter 20g., whole milk 50g., onions 60g., black ground pepper 0,05g., salt 2g. For dumplings: flour (corn or wheat) 160g., water 90g., salt 2g. Broth 250g., boiled milk 50g. Put cleaned and washed chicken into hot water (2-2.5 liters per 1 kilo), wait until the water boils, then turn down the heat. Remove the scum, add cut onions, salt and leave it to simmer in closed vessel until ready. Cut the boiled chicken into portions, put into a pan with sauted onions, add the whole milk, salt and pepper, cover with a lid and leave for 5 10 minutes. Make dumplings out of corn or wheat flour. (The recipe for dumplings see above under Zhizhig galnash). Boil the dumplings in broth or salted water for 20-25 minutes, put on a plate, top with chicken pieces. Serve the chicken broth with boiled whole milk separately.
more about chechen cuisine ...)

Issue 31
05.10.02

News from Chechnya

05 October 2002  The United States informs Russia about the sources that finance Chechen terrorists

Deputy Russian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin who participated in the autumn session of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank has said that the United States will share with Moscow information about the sources that finance Chechen terrorists. He said that the fight against financing terrorism was a key topic of his discussions with the American officials, his counterparts of the G-8 and the other IMF member countries. Washington promised to share the information on Chechnya last year when Russia set up a financial monitoring agency. As a part of joint fight against terrorism the United States and many other countries closed many organizations that were engaged in fund raising for the Chechen militants. These organizations often functions under the cover of humanitarian agencies.
(more news from Chechnya)

04 October 2002  Autumn draft starts in Chechnya

250 young men from Chechnya will join the Russian army after the autumn draft, said the republican enlistment officer major-general Anatoly Khryachkov. The draft plan has already been submitted to the Chechen government. 39, 868 citizens are on the military record in the republic, said the enlistment officer. Most of them, however, are exempt from military service. A. Khryachkov said Shelkovskoi district boasts the biggest number of draftees, 38, and both Nozhai-Yurt and Nadterechny districts have 30 conscripts. This autumns draft, like the two ones earlier this year, will largely replenish infantry companies of commandants office of the Chechen districts and population centers. 12 infantry companies and 8 platoons have been formed in the republic on local residents. All these units belong to the structure of the republican commandants headquarters and engage in military operations together with federal troops. They are full-fledged divisions of the Russian army. According to deputy commandant of the Chechen republic Selim Tsuev, soldiers are provided with everything needed for doing military service effectively. Apart from performing combat tasks, these units engage in disaster response and ensure public order together with the Chechen law enforcement agencies.
(more from Chechen diary)

03 October 2002  Russian Justice Ministry panel considers development of Chechen justice agencies

There are just over 200 people in Chechnyas penitentiaries now. The Russian Minister of Justice Yuri Chaika reported this figure after a meeting of panel that discussed development of Chechnyas justice bodies. 150 people are in custody at the detention center in the settlement of Chernokosovo. 50-odd people are now at a reformatory in the settlement. The Minister also said that a detention center in Grozny is to be set up by the end of the year. Custody standards are gradually approaching international ones. Modern sanitary equipment has been installed in Chernokozovo during a recent repair work and washbasins and shower rooms are now provided with hot water. Speaking at the panel meeting, head of the Justice Ministry department handling Chechnya Bek Baskhanov noted that buildings for bailiffs would be in place by mid-November. Bek Baskhanov said, however, that several justice agencies, including notarys offices and registry offices have to work in inadequate premises, including basements. Minister Chaika said that it was vital to prepare Chechen justice agencies for winter.
(more news from Chechnya)

02 October 2002  UN: humanitarian programs for Chechens and displaced persons

The UN humanitarian agencies have resumed their programs in the Chechen republic. Their activity was put on hold on July 29 following the abduction of Nina Davydovich, representative of the Russian non-governmental organization Druzhba, executive partner of the United Nations Childrens Fund UNICEF. The world food program (WFP) in cooperation with the Danish refugee council and Fund Man in lurch distributed 540 tons of food among Chechen residents. WFP together with its executive partners provided 60 tons of food for schools of the Grozny city, and Achkhoi-Martan, and Sunzhensky districts. As a result, 19 thousand juniors are now receiving hot food every day. 490 tons of food was supplied to persons displaced from Chechnya living in Ingushetia. An effort approved by the UN High Commissioner aimed at setting up winter temporary premises for displaced persons in Ingushetia is gathering pace. Before cold weather settles in, the refugees will receive 450 tarpaulin tents, purchased on funds raised by the European community Bureau of the humanitarian aid. Headquarters of the UN High Commissioner is also financing production of 300 pre-fabricated houses. 144 more such houses will be supplied by the non-governmental organization International charity corps. UNICEF delivered medications to Malgobek district polyclinic in Ingushetia that gives treatment to both local residents and displaced persons from Chechnya. A group of 17 Chechen children who survived the hostilities continued the course of psychological and sociological rehabilitation in a special center in Vladikavkaz. The Polish humanitarian organization, executive partner of the UNICEF, is moving on with its work to distribute drinking water among Grozny residents. This organization also started the construction of the first waste burner as part of the UNICEF project to help Grozny hospitals. Orthopedic center in Vladikavkaz operating with the support of the UNCIEF and the World healthcare organization completed the treatment of 12 children who were injured by ammunition explosions or mine. Ten children injured by mines continued the course of therapeutic gymnastics, massage, and physical therapy in the Vladikavkaz-based center of physical rehabilitation working under the UNICEF sponsorship. (more from Chechen diary)

Chechen history

The history of Russian-Chechen relations


The history of Russian-Chechen relations
(continuation)
The fifth stage

The fifth stage, which covers the Soviet era, occupies a special place in Russia's relations with Chechnya. In the years of the revolutions and Civil War (from 1917 to 1925) Chechnya was in the power of anarchy. The national movement had split and failed to consolidate the society. It fell into three branches:
1) state nationalism oriented to the Soviets (the Communists);
2) democratic nationalism oriented to the highlander integration and the West;
3) radical nationalism oriented to Islam and Pan-Turkism;
During that period Chechens and Ingushes survived the revolution and counter-revolution, an ethnic war with Cossacks, genocide of the White and Red Armies and the unsuccessful attempts to create an independent state - a theocratic one (the emirate of Sheikh Uzun-khadzhi) or a secular one (the republic of mountaineers of 1918). Finally, the less affluent social groups among Chechens and Ingushes turned down their elites that called for an independent mountaineer state and opted in favour of Soviet power, which promised freedom, equality, land and statehood. But that was a gross error.
The first measures taken by the Soviet power in Chechnya and Ingushetia showed that in reality the policy of the Communists had nothing to do with slogans they had used to involve landless mountain villagers into the struggle for a "better future".
Chechens put up resistance to the Stalin regime. Riots and uprisings grew into a guerrilla war. In retaliation for that in the 20s and 40s Vainakhs were subjected to permanent genocide which culminated in their mass deportation to Kazakhstan and Central Asia in 1944. The national elite, a genetically healthy part of the people, was eliminated in those years. Deportation resulted in the loss of nearly 40% of Chechens.
After Stalin's death, during the "Khruschev" thaw, it was decided to restore the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. After 13 years in exile Vainakhs headed home. However, their return, like the republic's restoration, was a painful process. The political and territorial rehabilitation of Chechens and Ingushes never materialized. The political distrust in Chechens as people and professionals remained . Chechens, the indigenous population of the republic, remained second-rate people on their native land. The traditional culture and religion of Chechens and Ingushes were practically banned. Teaching in schools and institutes was conducted in Russian. Chechen was spoken at home only. The native tongue as a subject was taught in rural schools only, Vainakh literature was published in Russian mainly and the authorities pursued the policy of Russifying the indigenous people, thereby hampering the development of Chechen culture.
In the 60s and 70s Chechen nationalism manifested itself in the form of numerous collective letters and addresses to the Central Committee of the Communist Party criticizing local authorities for their nationalities policy. Moscow reacted negatively and turned a blind eye to the persecution of those who signed the complaints. The period of ethnocide lasted 30 years. As a result, the psychological trauma inflicted on the Chechen people proved more destructive than the undisguised genocide of the Stalin era. When social dignity is taken away, national dignity spreads like a cancerous tumour. And this is exactly what happened in Chechnya. The process became especially visible during the disintegration of the Soviet Union, when modern Chechen ethnonationalism came into being.
The sixth stage
The Gorbachev perestroika, the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the sixth stage in Russian-Chechen relations that eventually led to a new Chechen war.
Conclusion
Hence the roots of the present-day national movement in Chechnya go deep into the centuries. The historical past of the Chechens shows that they have once again found themselves trapped by the unresolved problems of their tragic history. Among such problems,are, first of all, relations with Russia. Beginning from the 18th century relations between Russia and Chechnya can be described as permanent confrontation, which has degenerated into violent struggle once every 40-50 years. (In the past two centuries alone there have been 13 partial, 2 mass and one partial deportation of Chechens. The latest Chechen war started the 17th allegedly "voluntary" exodus of Chechens from the Chechen republic, but this time to other Russian regions. More than 700 thousand people have left the self-styled republic of Ichkeria). Military operations in Chechnya last from 6 to 25 years on the average and end in the suppression of Chechens with tremendous losses on both sides. A typical way of ending the conflict is to "freeze" it, that is, ending military operations and putting a damper on all-out war without settling the historical ethnic conflict between Russia and Chechnya. Hence one of the reasons for Chechen ethnonationalism is the unfulfilled idea of struggle for freedom and independence present in the minds of many generations of Chechens.
Chechnya's social, economic and cultural backwardness is the result of problems of relations between Russia and Chechnya (their nature and level). Chechen ethnonationalism is, first of all, a cultural and historical problem. The 20th century saw a destruction of Chechnya's economy, its material and spiritual values , and culture as a whole once every 40-50 years. The first instance of that took place in 1917-25, the second in 1944-57 and the third in 1994-96. Naturally, all that told on the nature of Chechen nationalism.
But the current conflict in Chechnya was not predetermined. It was provoked by those anti-Chechen and anti-Russian forces that are interested in permanent instability in the region.
(in detail...) 

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