(4 (16).03.1877 – 6.06.1926)

To live passionately,
To breathe eagerly,
To taste the bitterness,
To savour the joy,
Through troubles and hardships
To boldly make your way —
That is what
Makes life worth being born for!

“To live passionately, to breathe eagerly, to experience sorrow, to taste joy, to walk boldly through troubles and hardships – that is what makes life worth being born for!” This is the philosophy of life and art of Alexey Kulakovsky, the founder of Yakut poetry. Among his people, he is known by the pen name Өксөкүлээх Өлөксөй (Öksöküleekh Ölöksöy), which can be translated as “Alexey the Eagle.” Öksökü is a mythical shamanic bird with two or three heads; in Yakut tradition it is sacred and serves as the totem of many clans.

It is known that the poet had priests among his ancestors, and he himself was regarded as a shaman because of his remarkably accurate predictions about the future of his homeland and the world. In his famous Letter to the Yakut Intelligentsia (May 1912), he foretold the future of the kindred Kyrgyz people, state policies concerning the settlement of Yakut lands, the expansion of China and its economic progress. His poem The Shaman’s Dream (Oyuun Tüüle), regarded as Kulakovsky’s creative manifesto and the pinnacle of his poetry, speaks of the revolution in Russia and of wars with Germany: “Of all the great peoples of Europe, there is one that terrifies me – my hair stands on end, my body trembles – and that is Germany.”

Kulakovsky wrote his earliest works in Russian, but in 1900 he composed Bayanay’s Blessing (Bayanay Algyha), regarded as the first work of Yakut written literature and culture. The poet was also a traveller and researcher of Yakut folklore and traditional beliefs. He contributed to the development of the Yakut writing system by adding characters to the Russian Cyrillic alphabet in order to represent his native language more accurately.

During his expeditions, he travelled a total distance equivalent to twice the circumference of the Earth. In his relatively short life, he accomplished a great deal for the establishment and development of Yakut culture: he wrote stories and poems for children’s readers, formulated the principles of Yakut versification, wrote articles on the Yakut language, and collected and organised more than 1,000 proverbs, which he also translated into Russian.

The first President of Yakutia, Mikhail Nikolaev, described the work of “Alexey the Eagle” as “the life’s achievement of a thinker and prophet whose example will help us discover and preserve the meaning of life.”

The bust monument to Alexey Kulakovsky was created by the prominent Yakut sculptor Afanasy Romanov, a member of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia. In 1986, he graduated from the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute, where he studied under Prof. M. F. Baburin, and subsequently returned to his homeland. Since 1985, he has participated in numerous major Russian and international exhibitions. His works are held in private collections in Canada, Austria and Japan, as well as in museums throughout Russia. Since 1997, Romanov has served as Chairman of the Union of Artists of Yakutia. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Architecture and Urban Construction at the M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University.

His work encompasses monumental, easel and decorative sculpture. Among his best-known creations are the monument to Alexey Kulakovsky in the capital of Yakutia (2002); the monument to P. I. Beketov, the pioneer associated with the founding of Yakutsk; and The Lena Captain, erected on the bank of the Lena River near the settlement of Zhatay. The theme of maternal sacrifice is represented in his monument to F. N. Malgina in the village of Bayaga, a mother who lost all five of her sons in the war, as well as in the Mother Yakutia monument (2013) at Lake Saysary.

In 2015, Romanov completed a series of busts for the Khatagay Alley of Heroes of the Civil War. In 2016, he created 18 portraits and four bas-reliefs for the Alley of Professors at the Yakutsk Pedagogical Institute. In October 2017, his monument Glory to the Student Brigades of Yakutia was unveiled.

For his contribution to the development of Yakut culture and art, as well as for his work as a teacher passing his experience on to younger generations, Afanasy Romanov has received numerous titles and honours, including People’s Artist of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Gold Medal of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia.