Kirii, Aleksei [Adyghe: (Poem)]. Adyge: (Poema).

Krasnodar, Kraevoe knigoizdatelstvo, 1941.
8vo, 140 pp., ill.

In original pictorial paper-covered boards.
In good condition, some soiling and rubbing to covers, small stains to title.

Rare provincial edition. First Kirii’s book in Russian. One of 5 000 copies printed.

The poem was written by Aleksei (Oleksa) Kirii (1889–1954), a Ukrainian poet, writer, and translator who lived in Kuban, a region in the North Caucasus. Kirii initially wrote in Ukrainian, aligning with the Bolshevik policy of Ukrainization in the region following the October Revolution. Since the 1920s, while serving as a senior secretary of the regional court, he developed an interest in the history and culture of the Circassian (Adyghe) people, a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group. Kirii dedicated considerable effort to collecting Adyghe folklore, collaborating with Ibragim Tsei, a writer and one of the founders of Adyghe literature. In 1932, as de-Ukrainization began in Kuban, Kirii switched to writing in Russian.
His epic poem, ‘Adyghe’, delves into the lives of several generations of the Adyghe people, tracing their history from ancient times to the period of collectivization. The poem is based on stories from Adyghe storytellers, and firsthand accounts of historical events from the 19th and 20th centuries. A significant portion of the poem focuses on the Caucasian War, a 19th-century conflict between the Russian Empire and various North Caucasian peoples resisting Russian conquest. The poem notably mentions Kizbech Tughuzhuqo, a Circassian military leader who participated in the war. The first two parts of ‘Adyghe’ were published in 1941, just before the USSR entered World War II, with the complete version published in 1948.

We couldn’t trace any copy of this edition via OCLC.