Sanbayev Satimzhan Kamzhievich was born on September 16, 1939 in village Makat of Atyrau region in a family of eminent Kazakh teacher Khamza Sanbayev.
After termination with the silver medal Makat’s high school named after A.Gaidar in 1956, and graduation Orenburg agricultural institute in 1961, he worked as a chief engineer in a village Engels of Atyrau region. Later worked as a design engineer in Pavlodar’s tractor plant, the mechanical engineer at Balkhash mining and metallurgical combine, combining engineering activity with literary work.
His first stories called “And eternal fight”, “White aruana”, which brought to him wide popularity in the country and abroad, were published by the magazine “Prostor” in 1968.
Along with literary creativity Satimzhan Sanbayev acted in films. He played leading roles in movies “Road to 1 000 Versts” (the commissioner Alibi Dzhangildin, 1967), “Unusual day” (scientific Altai Kurmanov, 1972), “Chokan Valikhanov” (the sultan Tezek-tore, 1984), “Batyr Bayan” (Abylay-khan, 1992). Satimzhan Sanbayev - the author of scenarios of feature films “Where Mountains White” (“A white aruana”, 1972), “The house at the salty lake” (2004), and a number of documentaries. He translated into Russian films “Kyz Zhibek” and “Scarlet poppies of Issyk-Kul”. The play “Cologne Bottle” was played by the Academic drama theater named after M.O. Auezov. Satimzhan Sanbayev - the author of the collection of stories “White Aruana”, “Wells of Hot Valleys”, novels “One More Summer”, “Such rains didn't happen here”, “The leaf sliding on snow”, “We will captivate in the spring a voice”, “Platform” and “Pit”. More than ten bright literary sketches about our contemporaries - famous writers, artists, actors, simple people of work, were written by this great talent. Works of the writer were translated and published in many foreign countries.
Satimzhan Sanbayev's contribution to a literary translation is considerable. He translated into Russian works of Kazakh literature classics like Abay Kunanbayev, Mukhtar Auezov, Sapargali Begalin, Abu Sarsenbayev, Kalikhan Iskakov and others, also prosaic transposition of works of the Kazakh folk and lyrical epics “Koblandy-batyr”, “Alpamys-batyr”, “Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu”, “Kyz-Zhibek” are carried out.
In different years Satimzhan Sanbayev worked as the edition manager of “Zhazushy” publishing house, the head of department, the chairman of Board on transfer of the Kazakhstan’s Union of writers, the editor-in-chief of national film company “Kazakhfilm” named after Sh. Aymanov. He was the participant and the organizer of decades and days of the Kazakh and Soviet literature in the country and abroad, and was the vice-president of the anti-nuclear movement “Nevada Semey”.
Satimzhan Sanbayev became the winner of an award of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and Union of writers of the USSR for the best novel about the person of work in 1981. He was awarded with the order “Құрмет”, and other medals and certificates of honor.
