Pachev, Bekmurza Mashevich

Kabardin narrator and poet.

Born January 6 (18), 1854, in the village of Nartan (now Kabardin-Balkar Republic). Learned to read and write from fellow village residents. In 1880s, invented an alphabet basing using Arabic base; recorded his compositions in it. In his pre-revolutionary poems, denounced the rich and the strong of this world: epics Dagger (1909-1910), poems Wind, Japanese War, Hard Times, etc. The Revolution of 1905-1907 and uprisings of the Kabardin and the Balkar poor in 1913 attached the spontaneous rebellious direction to Pachev's creative work. He glorified the lonesome heroes engaging in a combat with the authorities, such as Song of Alikhan Kashirgov and other. On the whole, his pre-revolutionary poetry was close to the poetics of the Nart epos. In the Soviet times, the poet created the poems about Revolution and new life (Terek, Labor, etc.), glorified the friendship of the nations (epics Kabarda, 1935, My Word about Moscow, 1925). Pachev's creative work is a transitional link from the poetry of the narrators to the written literature.

Bekmurza Mashevich Pashev died on February 15, 1936, in his native village of Nartan.