ANKARA

Maria Aitmatova, the widow of late Kyrgyz national writer Chingiz Aitmatov, died of the coronavirus on Tuesday at the age of 79.

Aitmatova's family members on April 7 announced their whole family had gotten infected with COVID-19 and were self-isolating for two weeks.

Sabira Aitmatova, her daughter-in-law, said on Instagram that she passed away at the Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital in the capital Bishkek.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov "with a feeling of deep sadness" offered his condolences to the family and friends of Maria Aitmatov.

"This is a great loss not only for her family and friends, but for all of us. Maria Aitmatova will forever remain in our memory as a caring mother, a faithful keeper of the hearth, as well as a loving spouse and a reliable companion in the life of the great writer who glorified Kyrgyzstan throughout the world. Once again I express my deep condolences to all the relatives and friends of the Aitmatovs," Japarov said.

Aitmatova's funeral service was held at the Aitmatov house-museum in Bishkek on Wednesday.

She will be buried at the Ala-Archa cemetery.

Aitmatova was born on July 13, 1942, in the northernmost Chui region of Kyrgyzstan.

Chingiz Aitmatov, whose works have been translated into 157 languages, died on June 10, 2008, in Germany.