Suimonkul Chokmorov

Suimeenkul Chokmorov was a talented artist and actor who has left a deep mark on the history and culture of Kyrgyzstan. He was also the brightest star of Kyrgyz cinema and his unique characters have become a symbol of dignity, justice and honor. Suimonkul Chokmorov has played more than 20 film roles and wrote almost 500 scripts. He was also a sports enthusiast regardless of his otherwise fragile health.

Suimenkul Chokmorov was born on November 9, 1939, in the Chon-Tash village, near Frunze (now in the Alamudun district, Chui oblast, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). As a child, he was seriously ill. To overcome the disease, he went in for sports, played volleyball, and later even played for the national team of Kyrgyzstan and the national team of Leningrad. Afterwards, he got interested in painting. He graduated from the Frunze Art College in 1958, and studied later at the Department of Painting at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. I.E. Repin, graduated in 1964. In 1964-1967 he was a teacher of painting and composition at the Frunze Art College. 

Suimonkul only got to the cinema industry in 1967. His first and immediately the main role was a role in the film “Shot at the Karash Pass”. He played both in historical and adventure films (“The Seventh Bullet”, “Dersu Uzala”, “Scarlet Poppies of Issyk-Kul”), and in dramas on contemporary themes (“The Red Apple”). In the 1970s and 80s, he was one of the most recognizable actors in Soviet Central Asia. He also played in movies which were conversions from the works of the Kyrgyz writer Chyngyz Aitmatov.

As a popular film artist, he represented Soviet cinema in many foreign countries. Being an artist, he painted landscapes, portraits and he has about 400 works with models being mainly people of creativity. The main paintings of Chokmorov are stored in the Kyrgyz State Museum of Fine Arts. He was a member of the Union of Cinematographers of the Kyrgyz SSR, member of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR (since 1971), member of the Union of Artists of the Kyrgyz SSR (since 1974), member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (since 1967), member of the CPSU since 1975 and a Member of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz SSR 10-11 convocations.

He died on September 26, 1992, after a long illness and was buried in Bishkek at the Ala-Archa cemetery. In 2006, a stamp was dedicated to Suimonkul Chokmorov and in 2009, a banknote of with the value 5000 som, the highest currency was issued with a portrait of S. Chokmorov, and one of the main streets in Bishkek is named after him.