Iskhak Mashbash

Doctor

Meschbesh'e Ishaq Shumafe yqor
Ishak Mashbash
Native name
МэщбэшIэ Исхьакъ Шумафэ ыкъор (Adyghe)
BornИсхак Шумафович Машбаш (Russian)
(1930-05-28) 28 May 1930
Uspensky District, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
OccupationNovelist, poet, translator
LanguageAdyghe, Russian
CitizenshipSoviet Union
Russia
GenrePoem, novel
Years active1950–present
Notable awards

Iskhak Shumafovich Mashbash is a Circassian poet, writer and translator. He is the author of more than 80 books in Adyghe and he has translated many works from Russian to Adyghe and Kabardian, including the Quran. His works were published in English, French, Spanish, German, Polish, Mongolian, Turkish, Arabic and other languages.

Despite gaining high positions in Russia and USSR, he was criticized by Russians for writing about the Circassian genocide. All of his works were published in 20 volumes in Adyghe and Russian in 2015. His works have been translated to Turkish by Fahri Huvaj, a prominent Circassian nationalist in Turkey.

He has received several awards, some of which are the Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation (2019), People's writer of Adygea (1993), Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, laureate of the USSR State Prize (1991), the State Prize of the RSFSR (1981), the State Prize of the Republic of Adygea. He is respected by Circassians worldwide. In 2016, a monument of Iskhak Mashbash was built in his homeland, in the village of Urupsky.