In the O. Zhandosov reading room of the «Kazakhstan Kitaptary» Service, a book exhibition «Prosa janyrynyn suretkeri» dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the People's writer of Kazakhstan, playwright and translator Maurice Davidovich Simashko was organized.

He was born on March 18, 1924 in Odessa. After school, he entered the two-year Teachers' Institute at the Department of Russian Language and Literature. During the war, Maurice served in the army on the Turkmen-Iranian border near the city of Mary (named after the ancient city of Merv), which later affected his literary preferences.

After the war, he graduated from the Odessa Pedagogical Institute (1946). He worked as a schoolteacher first in his native Odessa, and then in the city of Mary, as a correspondent for TASS, the newspaper «Sovetskaya Kultura», «Uchitelskaya Gazeta», worked in the magazine «Prostor» and the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan, led the Kazakh Pen Club. He became a prominent Kazakhstani writer, translator of books from Kazakh into Russian.

In the 80s of the last century, while working in the collections of the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Alma-Ata, Simashko discovered a 10-volume book of Tsarina Catherine II in French, in which there was correspondence with Voltaire. When her notes, diaries, and writings were translated to him, he conceived the novel «Semiramis» about the great Russian tsarina. In 1999, Simashko was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan for his novel «Semiramis». M.Simashko is a laureate of the Kazakh Presidential Peace and Spiritual Accord Award. Winner of the 1986 Abai Literary Prize for the translation of the trilogy into Russian  I. Yesenberlin's «Nomads». He was awarded medals «For the victory over Germany», «XX years of Victory», «XXX years of Victory».

According to his scripts, about ten films have been staged – these are «The Case in Dashkala», «In Black Sands», «Sultan Beybars» and others. «Gu-Ga» is a book by front–line soldier Maurice Simashko about penal battalions during World War II, a month of service in which was equivalent to ten years in prison. A two-part film was shot based on this work at the Odessa Film Studio.

The book exhibition consists of two sections. The first section: «Biregei korkem soz sheberi Maurice Simashko» reflects materials about the life and work of M. Simashko: encyclopedias, bibliographic reference books and literature about him.

The second section «Ushkyr oyly kalamger» introduces readers to the famous works of the writer: «Chronicle of King Kavad» (1968), «Commissar Dzhangildin» (1978), «The Bell» (1982), «Gu-ga» (1982), «Semiramis» (1988), «The Fourth Rome» (2013), «Nomads» (2015), etc. His works have been translated into many languages of the world.

The purpose of the book exhibition is to introduce and popularize the creative activities and works of M. Simashko, to attract readers' attention to the famous personality of the writer, who made a significant contribution to the development of Kazakh literature and drama.

 We invite you to the book exhibition!