Musa Mamut

Musa Mamut
Born (1931-02-20)February 20, 1931
Uzundza (Kolhoznoye), Balaklava region, Crimea
Died June 28, 1978(1978-06-28) (aged 47)
Simferopol, Crimea
Resting place Besh-Terek (Donske), Simferopol region, Crimea
Nationality Crimean Tatar
Occupation machinist and tractor driver
Known for He immolated himself in Crimea as a sign of protest against the repression of Crimean Tatars
Religion Islam
Spouse(s) Zekiye Abdulla (Abdullaeva)

Musa Mamut (Russian and Crimean Tatar languages:Муса Мамут; 20 February 1931 - 23 June 1978) was a political activist who immolated himself in Crimea as a sign of protest against the repression of Crimean Tatars. He is a symbol of Crimean Tatar nationhood.[1][2][3][4]

Biography

Musa was born on 20 February 1931 in Uzundza, Balaclava region, Crimea to a shepherd family. He had five brothers and two sisters. In 1944 Joseph Stalin accused the Crimean Tatars of collaborating with the Nazis. Like thousands of other Crimean Tatars, Musa's family was driven out of its home, they were loaded onto a cattle wagon and deported to Uzbekistan. In exile, the family lived in poverty, and four of Musa’s siblings died of malnutrition. Musa worked in a cotton warehouse and in 1957 he became a machinist and tractor driver.[1][2][3]

During the era of Leonid Brezhnev the Crimean Tatar repatriation movement was supported by Soviet human rights activists, such as Petro Grigorenko and Andrej Sakharov. In September 1967 the Soviet authorities dropped the accusation against the Crimean Tatar people.[2]

In April 1975 Musa came back to Crimea. He settled near Simferopol, in the village of Besh-Terek (Donske) where he bought a house. But he did not obtain a notarial certificate of the house and a residence permit. He was arrested on 23 April 1976, and on 13 May 1976 he was sentenced to two years imprisonment without probation in Kremenchuk in Poltava. His wife, Zekiye Abdulla, was sentenced to two years probation. After several months the rest of his sentence was changed to penal labor in a local refinery and on 18 July 1977 the court released him. But once again, the local authorities denied his residency and continued to harass him. He often talked with his friends about the tragic situation of the Crimean Tatars. On 20 June 1978 new criminal charges were brought against his family and when the police came to his house on 23 June 1978, Musa doused himself with petrol and lit a match dying from his burns on 28 June 1978. He was buried in Besh-Terek.[1][2][3]

On 4 July 1978, Russian dissident Andrej Sakharov sent a letter to Leonid Brezhnev and asked him to assure the return of justice to Crimean Tatars.[3]

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Allworth & 1998 pp.167-169.
  2. 1 2 3 4 RFE/RL 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 janpalach.cz.
  4. ↑ "25 ЛЕТ СО ДНЯ САМОСОЖЖЕНИЯ МУСЫ МАМУТА".

Sources


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