50) Kazakh enlightenment. Pedagogy activity of I. Altynsarin

Ibrahim (Ibrai) Altynsarin (1841-1889) was a major figure in pre-Soviet Kazakh history. He was the most prominent Kazakh educator of the late 19th century, during the period of Russian colonization of and cultural influence in Kazakhstan.  Ibrai Altynsarin was born in 1841 year, in selo Alzhanka of Kostanay rayon, Kostanay oblast. In 1857 year he successfully graduated from the Kazakh school in Orenburg. From the year of 1869 he worked as the inspector of schools in Turgai uyezd.

He is best known for introducing a Cyrillic alphabet for the Kazakh language, and was a proponent of teaching in the Western style. However, he opposed the teaching of Orthodox Christian doctrines to non-Russian Kazakhs, but at the same time urged resistance to Tatar language and culture, in favor of Russian and Western influences. As an educator, he opened numerous Kazakh-Russian boarding schools, 7 primary schools and 2 two class colleges for Kazakh children, among them first schools for girls.

Altynsarin is also credited with authoring the first Kazakh grammar book, the first Kazakh-Russian newspaper, and with translation of a large number of textbooks and reference works. He was honored by the Tsarist Russian government with numerous awards, including the title statski sovetnik (State Councillor). The creative work of I. Altynsarin was very productive. Excluding the numerous articles, published in issues of Russian geographic association and local newspapers, in 1879 year were issued two his books: «Reading book for Kirgizs» and «How to teach Kirgizs Russian language Manual», and later «Maktubat». (At the times of Car governing in Russia the Kazakh nation was named as Kirgiz)

The origin of Kazakh alphabet and written language, based on the Russian graphics, is related to the name of I. Altynsarin. I. Altynsarin is one of the most talented Kazakh writers. He translated to the Kazakh language the fables of I. Krylov, the tales of L.Tolstoy, wrote little stories, in them he truly described the Kazakhs’ life. I. Altynsarin was the founder of Kazakh art prose.

A number of Kazakh institutions, including the Kazakh Academy of Education, and some streets, schools, and academic awards, are named for Altynsarin. There is an Altynsarin museum in Kostanai.

51) Abay Kunanbayev – epoch, personality and works

Abay Ibrahim Qunanbayuli (Kazakh: Абай Ибрагим Құнанбайұлы; Абай Ибрагим Кунанбаев) (August 10, 1845 - July 6, 1904) was a Kazakh poet, composer and philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultures on the basis of enlightened Islam. Abay was born on what is today the city of Karaul, in Abay District, East Kazakhstan Province; Abay" (meaning "careful"), a name that stuck for the rest of his life. His father's economic status enabled the boy to attend a Russian school in his youth, but only after he had already spent some years studying at a madrasah under Mullah Ahmet Ryza. At his school in Semipalatinsk, Abay encountered the writings of Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Pushkin.

Abay's main contribution to Kazakh culture and folklore lies in his poetry, which expresses great nationalism and grew out of Kazakh folk culture. Before him, most Kazakh poetry was oral, echoing the nomadic habits of the people of the Kazakh steppes. During Abay's lifetime, however, a number of important socio-political and socio-economic changes occurred. Russian influence continued to grow in Kazakhstan, resulting in greater educational possibilities as well as exposure to a number of different philosophies, whether Russian, Western or Asian. Abay Qunanbayuli steeped himself in the cultural and philosophical history of these newly-opened geographies. In this sense, Abay's creative poetry affected the philosophical thinking of educated Kazakhs.

Works Abay also translated into Kazakh the works of Russian and European authors, mostly for the first time. Translations made by him include poems by Mikhail Lermontov, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lord Byron, Ivan Krylov's Fables and Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. Abay's major work is The Book of Words (Kazakh:, Qara sözderi), a philosophic treatise and collection of poems where he criticizes Russian colonial policies and encourages his fellow Kazakhs to embrace education and literacy to escape from colonial oppression

Legacy. The leaders of the Alash Orda movement saw him as their inspiration and spiritual predecessor. Today, Kazakhs revere Abay as one of the first folk heroes to enter into the national consciousness of his people. Almaty State University is named after Abay, so is one of the main avenues in the city of Almaty.

Therefore, Abai Kunanbayev is above history: he served no government or ideology. He embodies both an ethnic and a personal inspiration, which has come to be identified with the destiny of his people, their struggles and their tragedies. Rooted in the spirit of his nation, he lived during an exceptionally complex period of Kazakh history. He is not a story-teller who respects tradition and its rules, he is a civilizing genius, capable of reconstructing everything through his creative originality, of enriching the past and developing a new personal view of the world. Abai and the spiritual force that he represented were a shield that protected people. Abai was a kind of sanctuary, a bastion for the Kazakh people. He enabled them to survive spiritually, to resist the power of imperialistic absorption. The heritage of his work preserved and inspired the Kazakh intelligentsia at a time when the dangers of nihilism were at their most critical and troubling. The neighboring peoples are also deeply indebted to the greatness of Abai, in their struggle to preserve their distinctive languages and national spirit. On the horizon of history, Abai appears as an astonishingly contemporary figure, a man endowed with a particularly penetrating vision. He loved his people and was proud of them, but he also called on them to be self-critical. He presented his compatriots with the unvarnished truth, refused to indulge a misplaced national pride, and denounced the defects and obscurantism of an ignorant nation