Years of life 1873-1937.
Poet, scientist, Turkologist, translator, teacher, publicist, public figure, linguist Akhmet Baitursynov was born on January 18, 1873 in Sarytubek district, present Zhangilda district of Torgai region.
From the age of nine he studied at the aul school, then at the Russian-Kazakh school in Torgai, which he graduated in 1891. Then he continued his studies at the Orenburg teacher’s school, which he graduated from, from 1895 to 1909 he worked as a teacher in schools, Russian-Kazakh schools of Aktobe, Kostanai and Karkaralinsk uyezds.
The graphic system created by him and called by his name allowed to eliminate illiteracy faster. The new alphabet, named “Jana Emle” (“New Orthography”), is still used by Kazakhs living in China, Afghanistan and Iran.
He was one of the authors of the “Karkarali Petition”, which demanded to stop the expropriation of land from Kazakhs, to stop the flow of migrants, to create folk lands.
In 1913 Baitursynov together with the former deputy of the State Duma of I convocation Alikhan Bukeykhanov and writer Mirzhakip Dulatov opened the newspaper “Kazakh” in Orenburg. He managed to unite such prominent figures of Kazakh people as Sh. Kudaiberdiyev, M. Zhumabaev and others around the newspaper.
In 1917 he participated in creation of Kazakh Alash party, was one of active organizers and leaders of Alash Orda government.
А. Baitursynov recognized the Soviet power which proclaimed “the declaration of rights of peoples of Russia”. In June 1919, Akhmet Baitursynov was elected a member of the Kazakh Krai ARC. In 1922-1925 he was the chairman of the scientific-literary commission at the People’s Commissariat for Education and Science, chairman of the People’s Commissariat of Kazakhstan, a member of the Central Executive Committee, the KazCEC, works in the printing body of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkestan, the newspaper “Ak Zhol”.
In 1925-1929, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkestan, the Ak Zhol newspaper. Baitursynov teaches at a number of higher education institutions of the republic.
Baitursynov was one of those who fell victim to Stalin’s repressive machine in the 30s. According to some sources, he was arrested and shot in October 1937. He was rehabilitated only in 1988.
In June 1929, during his creative trip to Kyzyl-Orda, Ahmet Baitursynov was arrested. He was accused that in 1926, during the Congress of Turkologists in Baku, he tried to establish communication with the politician Mustafa Shokai – in order to implement with him the plan of separation of Kazakhstan from Russia. In 1931, the scientist was sent into a three-year exile in the Arkhangelsk region. In 1937, he was arrested during a new wave of repression.
On December 8, 1938 Ahmet Baitursynov was shot as an enemy of the people.
Sources: https://studwood.ru/944842/istoriya/lidery_partii_alash
https://www.voxpopuli.kz/history/898-alash-orda.html
