Photo from the internet. Raisa Kydyrbaeva
Raisa Kydyrbaeva was born in 1930. In 1952, she completed her studies at the philological faculty of Kyrgyz State University (Russian department), and in 1956, she defended her dissertation at the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow.
Since 1956, Kydyrbaeva began her career at the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR, where she initially worked as a junior researcher. She later held various positions, including senior, leading, and chief researcher, and headed the "Manas" department at the Chingiz Aitmatov Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, where she worked until 2025.
Raisa Kydyrbaeva is the author of numerous significant scientific works dedicated to the epic "Manas," in which she examines issues of its genesis, variability, poetics, and the mastery of manaschi.
She also participated as a scientific consultant in the creation of the documentary film by Melis Ubukeev "Uluu Manaschi" (1988) and established a scientific school in the field of folklore theory, preparing many doctors and candidates of sciences.
Among her works, the following scientific monographs and studies can be highlighted:
- "Tradition and Individuality of the Epic 'Manas';
- "Genesis of the Epic 'Manas';
- "Ideological and Artistic Features of the Epic 'Sarinji Bokoy';
- "Poetic Traditions of the Epic 'Zhanil Myrza';
- "Performing Mastery of Manaschi";
- "Variants of the Epic 'Manas';
- "Epochs, Generations, and Manaschi" and many others.
