Alikhan Bukeikhanov: biography, political views, memory

For a long time the name of this man was forbidden, and he, like many of his contemporaries, was officially considered an enemy of the people. But for a long time this man has been rehabilitated and his activity has earned respect from grateful descendants. Today, the great political figure Alikhan Bukeikhanov, whose anniversary is celebrated in 2016, is one of the national heroes of the Republic of Kazakhstan. After all, he put his whole life on the altar of independence of this Central Asian country.

An active public figure, a brilliant politician, a brilliant publicist, a talented researcher and a patriot with a capital letter ... And an ethnographer, an agronomist, an economist, a lawyer, a literary critic - and this is not a complete list of all his roles. Not much history of Kazakhstan knows personalities of this magnitude!

Today his biography and life activity are studied in Kazakh schools. In this country he is considered a national hero. For this reason, a lot of pages are devoted to Kazakhstan's history books of his personality. So, let's move on to the biography of this great man in more detail.

Childhood and youth Bukeykhanova

Childhood and youth of the future leader of the nation were held in the remote village No. 7 of Tokraunsky volost of Karkaralinsky district of Semipalatinsk region (now Aktogay district of Karaganda region). It was there that on March 5, 1866, Bukhaykhanov Alikhan Nurmukhamedovich was born, becoming the first-born of his father and mother.

His family belonged to the descendants of the Kazakh sultans torah, and the title of Chingizid father Alikhan wore with pride. True, on the prosperity Bukeikhanov elegant pedigree is not particularly reflected. The family found it difficult to find the money they needed.

Wishing to provide his son with a reliable piece of bread, Alikhan's parents gave him after finishing madrassas at the Karkaralinsk vocational school. But a capable and willful boy found the quality of education to be unsatisfactory and switched to the Russian-Kazakh school. At the time, the young Bukeikhanov was only nine years old.

The release came in the nineties of the nineteenth century, when the construction of the Siberian railway was in full swing and the lower technical workers were in demand. They were prepared by the Omsk Technical School, the student of which became the heir of Genghis Khan.

But he was not destined to work as a railwayman. The talented young man goes further and receives the profession of an economist at the St. Petersburg Imperial Forestry Institute. In parallel, he mastered jurisprudence at the university (also St. Petersburg). Having passed the final exams, Alikhan Bukeikhanov begins his adult life as a brilliantly educated young man - well-trained professionally, orientated in modern realities, who know nine foreign languages. Even then it was clear that this young man is waiting for a great and brilliant future.

Scientific research activity

Throughout his life Alikhan Bukeikhanov managed to participate in four research expeditions, write fifty serious scientific works and more than a thousand notes and various articles.

The multifaceted uncharted world attracts him and, first of all, teaching mathematics in agricultural engineering school, and then carrying out official work in Omsk Technical School, he continues to discover something new and engage in self-education. And first of all Bukeykhanov was always interested in the history of Kazakhstan.

The first of four expeditions for him was Tobolsk, during which the issue of resettlement of Russians to the Kazakh land was studied. This was immediately after the end of the Forest Institute - in 1894 year. And eight years later the study of the Steppe region began - and again the focus was on settlers. At the request of the government that organized this event, scientists were required to identify free land suitable for new relocations.

But the young patriot used this knowledge in his own way. All that he saw and heard during the expeditions later became the basis for his scientific and publicistic works, in which the author showed and proved the infringed position of the Kazakhs in his native land as a result of the purposeful resettlement policy of tsarism. This state of affairs could not leave Bukeykhanov indifferent. He was "sick" to them and fought with him for the rest of his life.

In addition to studies of socio-historical orientation, the future prime minister of Kazakhstan was also engaged in economics, local lore, agrarian sphere, animal husbandry, etc.

Of great interest is, for example, his work on sheep breeding in the Steppe Krai, with invaluable recommendations for the breeding of these animals: where and what breeds are best adopted, what to feed, how to care, and so on.

Abai: acquaintance with the work of the poet

The information that Alikhan Bukeikhanov received while traveling through his native Kazakh land became the base when working on the eighteenth volume of the collection "Russia. A complete geographical description of our region. " It's easy to guess that this volume was dedicated to Kazakhstan, and Bukeykhanov was one of the authors. In his section he talked about the culture, way of life, mentality and ethnographic composition of the Kazakh people, using illustratively both folklore and author's creativity, in particular verses. Alikhan Bukeykhanova was very interested in the poetry of his contemporary Abai, whose poem "Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan Sulu" he analyzed in his scientific work.

In the eyes of the researcher, Abai was one of the best representatives of the new Kazakh intelligentsia, who stood up for the independence of Kazakhstan. And Bukeykhanov tries in every possible way to emphasize his spiritual kinship with this great Kazakh poet.

It should be noted that he further "promoted" Abai and his work to a wide range of readers, becoming the first biographer and preparing for publication a book of the poet's works. But the publication of the collected works was prevented by the arrest of Bukeikhanov, which occurred in 1905.

Active public figure

According to the information provided to us by the official biography, Alikhan Bukeikhanov manifests himself from an early youth as an active public figure. Particularly noticeable is his figure by 1893, when a descendant of Genghis Khan, a member of various circles (from literary to economic), participates in mass riots organized by students. It was then that Bukeikhanov was first attracted to the attention of the police, and he was on the list of people considered "politically unreliable".

The young patriot joins the national liberation movement of the Steppe region and eventually becomes its leader. This is largely contributed to Bukeykhanov's brilliant oratory skills. Some contemporaries, who had the good fortune to attend his speeches, compared them to the speeches of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself and said that they were practically in no way inferior to them in terms of expressiveness and persuasiveness.

The beginning of a brilliant political career

Naturally, such a person was directly on the road to politics. And along this road he walked confidently. In 1905, Alikhan Bukeikhanov becomes a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets) and dreams of the creation of a local (Kazakh) branch. On this occasion, holds a meeting in the cities of Uralsk and Semipalatinsk. In the same year he was elected deputy to the First State Duma of the Russian Empire.

But Bukeykhanov did not manage to represent the interests of the Kazakhs at the highest state level, since the Duma was dissolved almost immediately after the elections. Time began rebellious, unstable - Russia was trembling. The deputies tried to defend their rights by issuing the Vyborg Manifesto demanding that the dissolution of the tsar's Duma be abolished, but their efforts failed. Under the message was the name of Alikhan Bukeikhanov.

As already mentioned above, in 1905 a beginning politician, followed closely by gendarmes, was arrested for the first time. He was accused of calling for civil disobedience. The second arrest occurred in 1908, and this time he was not able to escape with a slight fright. The political views of Alikhan Bukeikhanov opposing the aggressive colonial policy of tsarist Russia were considered by the authorities to be incompatible with freedom and exiled the activist to exile in Samara, where he lived until 1917, in which great changes took place in the country. This year, Russia has become different. 1917 gave Bukeikhanov hope that his people could finally become independent.

Bukeikhanov's biographers consider him a good example for modern politicians. He proved his crystal honesty and decency repeatedly, until his last breath, keeping his native land and its people loyal. This person was one of those who go to politics not for personal gain, but for the sake of social well-being.

Brilliant journalist

Publicistic and journalistic activity is a special, very important layer in the heritage of Alikhan Bukeikhanov. Perfectly understanding that the word is the best weapon, he tried to use it as efficiently and effectively as possible.

In the period from 1905 to 1907 Bukeikhanov worked as an editor in the party newspapers of the Cadets Golos, Omich and Irtysh. He writes scientific articles for the "New Encyclopaedic Dictionary". Since 1910, it has been closely cooperating with the first Kazakh-language magazine "Haykap", which highlights the political life of the region, raising the problems of education, medicine, science, literature, the agrarian sphere, and much, much more. All that was on the lips of the advanced Kazakh intelligentsia of that time.

The real light in the awakening of national consciousness was the newspaper "Kazakh", which Bukeykhanov released together with other active public figures and journalists - Dulatov and Baytursynov. The contribution of this trio to the development of democratic and patriotic processes in Kazakhstan is difficult to overestimate.

By the way, most of his materials Alikhan Bukeikhanov published in "Kazakh" under the pseudonym "Son of the Steppes" ("Kyr balasy").

Masonry

There is information that for some time Bukeykhanov cooperated with Freemasons. His name was found in the memoirs of Kerensky, who headed the Masonic Lodge "Little Bear" in St. Petersburg.

The reliability of this information is indicated by the fact that the creation of the Samara group of Masons occurred exactly after the meeting of Kerensky with Bukeikhanov. In addition, it is known that among the participants of this movement there were most of all the cadets to which the hero of this article belonged.

In Masons the descendant of Genghis Khan saw primarily allies. His friendship with them was explained by hopes for help in giving the autonomy to the Kazakhs. In the seventeenth year he was even appointed head of the Provisional Government of Kazakhstan, but soon after that the paths of the Masons and Alikhan Bukeikhanov split, as the latter realized that he would not wait to support his aspirations from the organization. How can it not wait for it and from the Cadets. He said goodbye to them in the seventeenth year, too.

Party "Alash": a new round of political career

Disappointment, bekiehanov, did not break his spirit. The politician after the revolution of the seventeenth year does not fold his hands, but on the contrary spreads his wings. Together with his associates who appeared during the creation of the newspaper "Kazakh" he organizes a new, absolutely independent political force "Alash-horde" (alash is a common name of all nationalities, which eventually became known as Kazakhs).

This event was of great historical importance and largely determined the fate of today's modern Kazakhstan. The "Alash" party united the true patriots of the republic at the beginning of the twentieth century, and its ideology was based on the desire to achieve Kazakhstan's independence as part of a democratic Russia. The new powerful organization included almost the entire color of the Kazakh intelligentsia of that time.

Alikhan Bukeikhanov headed the party from the moment of its foundation. During the time of the political power, several congresses were held by her, one of which in 1918 saw an unprecedented event - the first independent state of the Kazakhs was declared. And the creator of the party "Alash" received the highest position - the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan!

Meanwhile, the civil war in Russia was growing stronger. The country was filled with real chaos. At first the Alash-Ordinites fought with the Bolsheviks on the White side. But when the Soviets won, they had to negotiate with ideological opponents about peace and cooperation. The main condition for "friendship", of course, was the preservation of the independence of the newborn state. It was approved by the Reds, but only on paper. In fact, since the conclusion of the treaty, the independent republic of Kazakhstan has ceased to exist.

Thus, for quite some time Alikhan Bukeikhanov headed the party "Alash", which was his last achievement in the political arena. With the advent of Soviet power, the proud Kazakh considered it necessary to abandon state activity in all its manifestations.

Repression and death of Bukeykhanov

Despite Bukeikhanov's departure from politics, the young Soviet government saw him as a dangerous enemy. He interfered with the new young Soviet system, since he did not share the idea of communism. They played with him, like a cat with a mouse, then arresting, then letting go.

It was very important to exclude the influence of the creator of the "Alash-horde" party on fellow countrymen, so in the twenty-second year he was forcibly transferred to Moscow, where he deals with science, literature, ethnography; Teaches at the university. For some period Alikhan Bukeikhanov was allowed to "absent himself" only in Leningrad - there he was also expected to be a teacher. But most of the fifteen-year "exile" took place in the capital of the Soviet Union.

The "captive" Kazakh quietly and modestly writers over scientific works, collects folklore, studies history (while secretly maintaining contact with compatriots and channeling the underground national liberation movement in the right direction). From the outside, his behavior looked absolutely innocuous.

But in the thirty-seventh year, "mowed" and not such ... Naturally, the former national leader did not leave the massacre of Stalin. In the seventy-second year of life Alikhan Bukeikhanov was arrested, accused of terrorism and on September 27, 1937, sentenced to death. To the advanced age of the Kazakh patriot, no one paid attention. The verdict was carried out on the same day.

Alikhan Bukeikhanov: family and personal life

About a private life of the largest political figure of Kazakhstan in the beginning of the twentieth century is not very well known. But even the information that is there is enough to understand - it was not cloudless.

In 1901 Bukeikhanov married Elena Sevastyanova, the daughter of journalist Yakov Sevastyanov, with whom Alikhan Nurmukhamedovich worked in the publication of the Steppe Krai. Already in 1902, the couple's daughter Kanipa was born (officially - Elizabeth). And eight years later, in 1910, the heir appeared in the family - the son Oktay (officially - Sergei).

In the eighteenth year Elena Bukeikhanova suddenly dies and leaves her husband with two children in her arms. But Alikhan turned out to be a good teacher and raised worthy people. Both followed in the footsteps of his father and became scientific figures. Grandson (son of Elizabeth) died on the battlefield during the Great Patriotic War. The second time to marry a Kazakh patriot did not. And until the end of his days he remained faithful to his beloved wife, who had suddenly departed.

It is noteworthy that none of Alikhan Bukeikhanov's relatives did not become "disguised." The heirs of the Kazakh sultans proudly bore their surname, despite the danger that it was fraught with. And when, after the rehabilitation, one of Bukeikhanov's nephews received the "execution sentence" in the archive, tears streamed down his face, and his pride was filled with pride for his great relative.

Memory

But not only relatives and friends keep the memory of the great Kazakh named Alikhan Bukeikhanov. The 150th anniversary of his birth this year is celebrated under the auspices of UNESCO! Only a few people use this confession ...

A number of events are planned and already held at the state level in Kazakhstan, whose independence was so proudly and fearlessly defended by Alikhan Bukeikhanov. A book exhibition dedicated to the life of the legend, the presentation of a documentary film, the publication of a collection of works, various conferences, seminars and much, much more, were prepared by grateful descendants in memory of a man who devoted himself entirely to serving his people.