The name of Academician Satbayev is known to everyone today. "The first academician," "the great scientist"—these words are spoken so frequently that they risk losing their specific meaning. What is the true scale of the legacy left by a man whose contribution to Kazakhstani science is nearly impossible to overstate? Who was Kanysh Satbayev—not as a legend, but as a scientist and a human being? Let us answer these questions through facts—through what has come to be known as the "Satbayev Standard."
ZHEZKAZGAN: EIGHT YEARS OF STRUGGLE—A CENTURY OF RESULTS
The year is 1926. A young geologist, recently graduated from the Tomsk Institute of Technology, arrives at the Karsakpay copper mine. Conditions are far from ideal: there are no qualified local specialists, funding is scarce, and the equipment is the dilapidated legacy of former British concessionaires.
Over three years, Satbayev’s team explored scattered copper deposits and reached a bold conclusion: they were all parts of a single, massive geological system. In 1930, this was scientifically confirmed. With reserves exceeding two million tons, it was one of the largest copper deposits in the world. Satbayev named it "Greater Zhezkazgan."
However, proof alone was not enough. In the scientific community, his calculations were dismissed as exaggerated and his conclusions as fantasy. For eight years, Satbayev traveled to Moscow, defending his findings before the USSR Academy of Sciences and the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry. His rigorous scientific arguments eventually convinced the state. In 1938, the decision for industrial development was made; by 1943, the first five mines and the processing plant were operational.
Without Zhezkazgan, there would be no Kazakhstani copper. Today, this deposit is the foundation of Kazakhmys—one of the world's leading producers and processors of natural resources and a pillar of the national economy. Satbayev’s scientific forecast has been serving the motherland for ninety years.
THE WAR YEARS: THE MANGANESE QUESTION
August 1941. German troops captured Nikopol—the main center of manganese production in the USSR. Without manganese, which is essential for steel production, the country risked losing its ability to manufacture armaments.
Satbayev, who knew the Kazakh steppe and its subsoil like his own home, had long been searching for manganese. The Zhezdy deposit, located near Zhezkazgan, suddenly acquired strategic importance. The academician scientifically justified the extraction of the necessary raw materials and organized their supply. For the mobilization of resources during the war years, Satbayev was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class—a well-deserved recognition for concrete results.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Satbayev began contemplating the creation of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan in 1944. This was not an abstract initiative; it was born of practical necessity. He understood that without a domestic scientific base, it was impossible to discover new deposits or develop industry.
He corresponded with the Science Department of the Central Committee, traveled to Moscow, and defended the proposal before the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. On June 1, 1946, the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR was officially opened. On June 3, at the first general meeting, Satbayev was elected its president. That same year, he became the first Kazakh to be elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
During those years, Kazakhstan faced the task of transitioning from an agrarian republic to an industrial one. At Satbayev's initiative, institutes of geology, chemistry, metallurgy, and humanities were opened simultaneously. Those scientific institutions are the living roots of today’s National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL: MAPS AND FORECASTS
Satbayev’s scientific legacy is not just a list of discoveries. Each of his fundamental works laid the foundation for the metallogeny of Kazakhstan. He developed a comprehensive method of metallogenic analysis and deposit forecasting.
The compilation of the geological map of Central Kazakhstan remains one of his primary achievements. Forecasts based on these maps continue to lead to the discovery of new ore deposits today. Satbayev did not just find specific minerals; he created the methodology for finding them—a tool that has remained effective for decades.
His involvement in the construction of the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant, the development of iron and manganese in Kostanay and Altai, and the extraction of phosphorites in Karatau are all links in the same chain. The Irtysh–Karaganda Canal was a project he championed until it became a reality. Today, the canal bears his name.
A CAMPAIGN ETCHED IN STONE
Satbayev left his mark on more than just geology. In 1935, while working as the chief geologist of the geological exploration plant of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, he heard from locals about an unusual stone atop Altynshoky in the present-day Ulytau region. He went to investigate and found it. Thus, "Tamerlane's Stone" was rediscovered.
The inscription on the stone became a vital source for historical science: it confirmed that Tamerlane’s campaign against Tokhtamysh in 1391 actually took place and that the army’s path led through the Ulytau mountains. This filled a significant gap in Medieval history. It was no coincidence that a geologist traveling across the steppe discovered this artifact; it was the result of a broad education and a deep love for his land. His contemporaries aptly called him the "chief archaeologist of the Kazakh people."
ALGEBRA, MUSIC, AND UNWRITTEN WORKS
Not everything about Satbayev is common knowledge. During his student years in Tomsk, he wrote an algebra textbook in the Kazakh language—1,467 pages in Latin script. At that time, Kazakh school textbooks simply did not exist. It was one of the first systematic attempts to translate science into his native tongue—a testament to his boundless devotion to his people.
He also loved music. He maintained close relationships with the writer Mukhtar Auezov and the composer Akhmet Zhubanov, supporting Kazakh culture with academic resources. The flourishing of the humanities during the early years of the Academy of Sciences is a living testament to this support.
AN ENDURING LEGACY
Satbayev passed away on January 31, 1964, in a Moscow hospital.
The city of Satpayev, the Irtysh–Karaganda Canal, Satbayev University, the Institute of Geological Sciences, a planet in space, and the mineral "satpayevite" are all named in his honor. UNESCO marked his centenary at the international level. The academician’s legacy is measured by the deposits he discovered and the maps he drew—and this measure grows more significant with each passing year.
He entered the steppe as a young geologist—without equipment, without money, and without a name. But he possessed an obsession to understand his native land. This obsession drove him toward a single goal for eight years, and that goal transformed into an industry that has lasted decades. He read the stones, opened the earth, and gave Kazakh science a new voice. He wrote textbooks, founded the academy, and championed culture.
The "Satbayev Standard" is not a monument or a formal portrait. It is a compass that prevents us from losing our way. It is for this reason that he is rightfully called the Academician of the Steppe.
By Gulmira Sultanbayeva
