YESSENOV BUST ERECTED IN TARTOGAI

Grigoriy Lee, the Program Coordinator of the Shakhmardan Yessenov Foundation, will tell us both about this and how Kazakhstan will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the birth of “the country’s chief geologist”.

— We have installed a bust of Shakhmardan in his native village Tartogai. It is made of bronze and it has been placed directly in front of the local school-gymnasium №153. The author of the bust is a member of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan Muratbai Umbetov from Kyzylorda. In October, we are planning an opening ceremony to be held. Local residents, government officials and relatives of the scientist will be invited to this event. At the same time, we would like to open the Yessenov Museum officially in the same school. The administration has requested us to create such a museum and they have even allocated a space for it in the school’s lobby. We have already figured out how to fill that space efficiently.

The Yessenov Foundation is currently completing an overhaul of the lobby, making information stands on the Scholar’s activity. An interactive whiteboard and a laptop, scanner, printer and photocopier, a large movable TV which will be looping videos about the scientist have been purchased in order to equip the museum. Modern furniture for the museum has also been procured, so as to make it possible to have classes with students of the school in there. The school will also receive 80 copies of 4 books about the life of the geologist. One of the four books recently published in commemoration of the 90th anniversary is from “Onegeli Omir” series, produced by al-Farabi KazNU. All work on the creation of the museum, according to the organizers’ plans, shall be finalized by the start of the new academic year.

“The production of a 20-minute long documentary film about the scientist is winding up. It is being produced by Octopus, a rather young but relatively experienced Almaty production company. Despite the lack of video and film archive material involving Yessenov in it, they have offered a rather creative design solution. We would like to broadcast the documentary on the three National TV channels,” said Roman Raifeld, the Communication Specialist of the Foundation.

it is worth mentioning that on September 21-22, the international scientific-practical conference “The Minerageny in Kazakhstan” will be held at the Satpayev Institute of Geological Sciences in Almaty, as Yessenov made an enormous contribution to the development of this science in the country. The Academy of mineral resources of Kazakhstan, Satpayev Kazakh Research Technical University and the Ministry of education and science of the Kazkahstan are among the participants of the event.

In 2 or 3 months’ time, ceremonial gatherings in honor of the 90th anniversary of the scientist will take place in Almaty, Kyzylorda, Shiyeli and Tartogai. The gatherings are open to the public, government officials, scientists and local residents. The program of the gatherings will include the presentation both of the book and the documentary feature , as well as floral tributes at his monuments.

In addition to his scientific achievements and the opening of one of the largest and most important for Kazakhstan mineral deposits, Shakhmardan Yessenov is also known for the following. At the age of 33, he became the youngest Minister of the USSR, filling the post of Minister of Geology of the Kazakh SSR. He convincingly persuaded the leadership of the Soviet Union to leave the Mangyshlak Peninsula within the territorial structure of Kazakhstan. In 1962, contrary to the logic, the peninsula was to be annexed to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan or Russia. The scholar also organized the first publication of Al-Farabi’s most important works in Kazakhstan.