Yanis Sudrabkalns (1894–1975) — Latvian poet, publicist, USSR State Prize laureate (1948), National Poet of the Latvian SSR (1947):
Exciting and being very grateful, I read poems of Gabdulla Tukay these days.
His sound began ringing in hard times of tsarism and stopped ringing sorrowfully early. However, his ring is still attractive.
His manner of realistic writing is bright and vivid, his style is original. His satire, pointed at all the ignorance and religious fanaticism, is biting. If the poet would have lived now and celebrated his jubilee…
Tukay’s poetry will be saved among the best books. A handsome face of a young man, which looks invariably in the course of time, makes us think that each nation and all the humanity have already lived till an hour of freedom.