Postcard from Bishkek

Chokmorov - on the 5000 som bank note

Suimonkul Chokmorov was a Kyrgyz film actor and artist.

Born into a large family in the village of Chon Tash, just outside Bishkek, on November 9th, 1939.  According to one source he was one of seven children with three brothers and three sisters, but another says that apart from himself there were ten other children.

The local school was in another village which required walking ten kilometres every day, so after just four years it was decided to send him to stay with one of his older brothers, who was a serving officer in the army.  When the officer was transferred to a new posting, Suimonkul went with him.

He fell sick as a child and was almost crippled, spending many months in hospital.  The Doctors held out little hope for a recovery and he was discharged eventually staying with his brother, a teacher of drawing, in the city rather than at home in the village.  It was at this time that he developed a love for painting.  He saw books with reproductions of great paintings and found that he had a talent for copying them.

The Doctors suggested that try to exercise and might take up sport.  During a remission from his disease, he took up High Jump and Volleyball.  He eventually became a Master of Sport in Volleyball during his time in Leningrad, where he played for the city’s student team, (later playing also for the Kyrgyz team).

At the end of the seventh class, he had to choose a profession and the family were divided.  His elder brother suggested enrolling in Music school, (Suimonkul played the Domra and the Komuz as well as enjoying singing).  Another brother suggested enrolling at Art School.  Suimonkul decided to enrol at both – at the same time, and for a while was able to cope with both courses of study, although after several months he finally resolved to study painting at the Frunze Art School.  Later he went on to the Leningrad Academy of Arts, graduating in 1964 before returning to Frunze where he taught painting and composition for three years, and became a member of the Union of Artists.

As an artist he worked in several genres: portrait; still life; landscape – Portraits being his favourite

His film career began in 1969, when he landed the major role of Baktygul in the film Shot in the Karash Pass – the first feature film by the, now, famous Kyrgyz Director, Bogs Shamshieva.  The film won him four festival awards, (the Soviet Union’s equivalent of an Oscar), and was the only actor to be achieve such a record: Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1967), Honoured Artist of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (1973) , People’s Artist of the Kirghiz SSR ( 1975) and People’s Artist of the USSR (1981).

His credits included a wide range of roles: historic, dramatic; adventure; contemporary – and he starred in several dramatizations of Chinghiz Aitmatov’s novels.

• Karash Karalash (“A Shooting at the Karash Pass”) (1968).  This was Shamshiev’s first feature film and he took a considerable risk casting an unknown into the lead role
• Jamilya (1968) – based on the novel by Chinghiz Aitmatov in which he plays the part of Daniyar
• Extraordinary Commissar (1970)
• The Seventh Bullet (1972)
• I Am Tien Shan (1972)
• Scarlet Poppies of Issyk Kul (1972)
• Deep (1973)
• The Ferocious One (1974)
• Red Apple (1975)
• Dersu Uzala  – The Hunter (1975)
• The life and death of Fedinand Louis – a TV mini series (1976)
• Ulan (1977)
• Men without Women (1981) – during the filming of this, he fell whilst performing a stunt – he always did his own stunts – and suffered a serious injury which resulted in his hospitalization for some time.
• Earlier than Cranes (1981)
• Sunday stroll (1984)
• First (1984)
• Valley of the Wolves (1986)

In March 2009 Kyrgyzstan chose a portrait of Chomorov  on the new 5000 som banknote.