Saiakbai Karalaev - Topic

Sayakbay Karalaev was a Soviet and Kyrgyz storyteller and manaschi - a reciter of the epic Kyrgyz poem Manas.
His famed variant of the Manas trilogy - Manas, his son Semetey, grandson Seitek - is said to total over 500,000 lines.
He was the first official manaschi of the Frunze Philarmonia, and received a monthly salary. His version of the Manas trilogy was collected 1936-1952.
A critical edition of his version was attempted, under the editorship of Chingiz Aitmatov in the late 1980s; later, arguably complete editions of Manas, Semetey, and Seitek appeared in the early 2010s. A CD of recorded performances appeared in 2007.
A French translation of his recitation of the epic Er Töshtük was published in 1965.
He was the subject of a biographical feature film: Sayakbay - Homer of the 20th Century.