- Imam Alimsultanov
Infobox musical artist
Name =Imam Alimsultanov _ce. Имам Алимсултанов
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Background =solo_singer
Birth_name =Imam Alimsultanov
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Born =1957
Died =November 10 ,1996
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Instrument =Voice ,Guitar
Genre =Music of Chechnya ,Folk music ,Bard (Soviet Union)
Occupation =Singer
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Notable_instruments =Imam Alimsultanov ( _ce. Имам Алимсултанов) (
1957 -November 10 ,1996 ) was a popular Chechen bard andfolk singer .Biography
Imam was born in
Kyrgyzstan in 1957 to Chechen parents, who had been been relocated as a result of the forced deportations of most Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia onFebruary 23 ,1944 . He returned toChechnya and would graduate from asecondary school in the Chechen capitalGrozny . Alimsultanov would later graduate from the Polytechnic Institute inRostov , and work as aland reclamation expert.Alimsultanov started his musical career in the mid-1980s, where he would pass on music
folktales and tales of Chechen heroes with his songs. He also wrote songs topoems written by Umar Yarycheva,Musa Geshaev , and other prominent Chechen poets. Unlike fellow Chechen bardTimur Mucuraev 's songs, Imam's music tended to be closer totraditional Chechen music. Some of his most popular songs include "Gazavat", "Dagestan", "Distant Homeland Anthem", and "Chechnya".With the start of the
First Chechen War in December 1994, Alimsultanov spoke to Chechen fighters, and at the request of Chechen PresidentDzhokar Dudayev , accompanied injured fighters toTurkey . Imam performed extensively inIstanbul , collecting money for injured Chechen fighters.After returning to Chechnya, as a chief negotiator Alimsultanov helped secured the release of 25 builders from
Odessa, Ukraine , who were held hostage. After securing their release, OdessaMayor Eduard Gurwits opened the Imam Music Hall Theatre, where Imam would be invited to perform five times.On the night of
November 10 ,1996 , three men in police uniform burst into the Odessa house where Alimsultanov and his artistic team were staying, shooting Imam and two colleagues at close range. All three died, but one witness, who was in the bathroom at the time of the murder, survived. The murder remains unresolved. In one version of the Ukrainian law enforcement, the murder had no political motive; however, an investigation by Chechen special services implicated the Russian FSB for the murder.Imam Alimsultanov was buried near his hometown of
Khasavyurt ,Dagestan , and a street in the same city was renamed in his honor.External links
* [http://www.kavkazchat.com/showthread.php?t=18667 Kavkaz Chat page on Imam Alimsultanov (in Russian)]
* [http://www.chechnyafree.ru/index.php?lng=eng§ion=friendeng&row=12 Chechnya Free.ru article on Imam Alimsultanov]
* [http://babouchka.net/old.kavkazcenter.com/english/news/2001/12/29/news2.htm Kavkaz Center news report on Imam Alimsultanov's assassination]
* [http://www.chechenpress.info/english/news/2005/01/20/03.shtml Chechenpress article by Alexander Litvinenko]
* [http://audio.kavkazcenter.com/index.php?cat=5 Kavkaz Center Audio of Imam Alimsultanov]
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