Quote by Chingiz Aitmatov: “To remember is to be human.”

This profound statement argues that the capacity for memory is central to human identity and experience. It suggests that our ability to recall the past, learn from it, and carry traditions makes us who we are as individuals and as a society.

Aitmatov's novel, 'The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years', delves into the importance of remembering one's history and cultural roots, especially in the face of pressures to conform and forget under Soviet influence.

Kyrgyz novelist who wrote primarily in Russian and Kyrgyz and became one of the most celebrated literary voices of Soviet Central Asia. His novels The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years and The White Ship drew on Kyrgyz oral tradition, landscape, and mythology to explore themes of memory, loss, and cultural identity. He later served as the Soviet ambassador to Luxembourg.