Mukay Elebay was a Kyrgyz poet and author born in Chong Tash village, Semirechye Oblast, Russian Turkestan in what is now the Tüp District of Issyk-Kul Region, Kyrgyzstan on the 15th of January 1906. Left orphaned at age 9, he fled to China in 1916 during the Urkun, returning a year later.
His autobiographical novel, "The Long Road", was published in 1936. It describes his growing up, escape to China, and return. It is considered to be the first novel in the Kyrgyz language.
In 1943 he was drafted into the Soviet army and killed during World War II in Russia in 1944.
Works
Uzak jol: novel (The Long Road), Frunze: Kyrgyzmambas, 1936. Kıyın kezeŋ: stories (Hard Times), Frunze: Kyrgyzmambas, 1938. Salam kat: poems, (Letter of Greeting) Frunze: Kyrgyzmambas, 1938.