Gabdulla Tukay

عبد الله توقاي

26 April 1886 CE · 22 Rajab 1303 AH† – 15 April 1913 CE · 9 Jumada I 1331 AH† †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

Tatar poet, critic and publisher (1886–1913), regarded as the founder of modern Tatar literature and of the modern Tatar literary language. Orphaned in infancy and passed between foster homes, he was formed at the Motıyğiya madrasa in Uralsk, became the leading voice of Kazan's Tatar press, and died of tuberculosis at Kazan aged twenty-six; his poem 'Tuğan tel' is the unofficial hymn of the Tatar language.