Origin of the Alash representative

One of the bright and original public and state figures of the Kazakh people was Temir-Bulat Mukhamedzhanovich Telzhanov. In the early years, after going over to the side of the Bolsheviks for a while worked in Akmolinsk, he was involved in the fight against hunger in the Akmola district in the early 1920s.

He came from a noble family: he was a grandson to the famous volost ruler Telzhan from the Buras-Kurman subgenus of Kerey tribe. So far, among local old-timers, there are memories of this respected person. Telzhan, who owned Arabic script, back in 1906, when the first two-year Russian-Kazakh schools began to be established on the territory of the vast Akmola region, one of the first addressed to the Akmola military governor with a request to allow him to open such a school for his relatives, for which he donated his good house.

The son of Mukhamedzhan Temir-Bulat was married to the beautiful Zhamal, born in 1906, who was the daughter of famous bai Zhakyp, the son of Tashchan biy from Pokrovka volost of Omsk district of Akmola region. Two of her siblings Hamit and Kazken, volunteers went to the front; they disappeared without a trace during the Second World War. And her elder brother Gabdolla died in 1965, having worked all his life on a collective farm as a blacksmith and secretly fulfilling the post of an aul mullah, reading surahs from the Koran on repressed relatives and soldiers and officers, killed at the front. Almost the entire older generation of other relatives of Zhamal was completely repressed by the Soviet regime or died at the front.

The aul of Temir-Bulat Mukhamedzhanovich’s wife Zhamal, named Baydalin (Baytuyak), located on the territory of the modern Pristansky state farm in the Tavrichesky district of the Omsk region, exists to this day. It's amazing: the house where she was born and grew up has survived. In 1983, the son of Temir-Bulat and Zhamal - the artist Kanafia, known in Kazakhstan and abroad, visited these places. This is how her son remembered very warmly about his mother’s aul: "I remember that my grandfather often rolled me on a tachanka with an open light body harnessed by a troika from Telzhan-ayl to my mother's village of Baytuyak (Baydalin) in the Omsk Region. And I remembered the huge sweep of the steppe, filled with the pure aroma of steppe grasses, wormwood and flowers ... original mazars, monuments of folk architecture of Kazakhs of Western Siberia and ramified steppe roads."

The years of public and political work

Temir-Bulat was born in the suburbs of Omsk, in the area of Kanikey in 1898 and since young years he actively joined the social and political work among the Kazakh population of Omsk. Initially, like the whole literate part of the indigenous population, he participated in the national-democratic movement Alash in the territory of the Akmola region. After the political amnesty of the participants in the Alash movement by the Soviet authorities, he moved to work in Soviet-party bodies and in 1919 joined the Bolshevik Party at the age of 21. In the period from 1919 to 1921, despite his youth, he was elected a member of the editorial board of the newspaper “Kedey Sozi”, the official organ of the Siberian Bureau of the CPSU (B). Here is how the well-known Soviet researcher V. Poznansky writes about this: "So, when the Central Committee of the RCP (B) decided on the creation of the editorial board of the newspaper “Kedey Sozi”, then along with prominent communists G. Tokzhanov from his organization and T. Telzhanov from Siberian Regional Tatar-Kyrgyz Bureau of the RCP (b) it introduced a non-party famous Kazakh enlightener M. Zhumabayev. On the instructions of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, Magzhan Zhumabaev, along with G. Tokzhanov, T. Telzhanov, B. Aybasov, Serkebaev, H. Kemengerov, Fazylov, M. Seitov, and H. Kakenov formed a literary group in Omsk for wide public awareness of the Kyrgyz republic."

Temir-Bulat was the author of numerous journalistic articles about the need to open new schools, the arrival of Kazakh children in higher educational institutions, the active study of the history of the region, the eradication of some obsolete wedding and funeral rites, and the improvement of breeds of local cattle. It was supposed to produce a newspaper once a week, but in fact it was published only once a month. By the way, the famous wrestler Hadjimukan Munaitpasov worked as a coder in this newspaper.

In 1921, he became a member of the Presidium of the Omsk Executive Committee, editor of the newspaper “Bostandyk Tuy” (Banner of Freedom), the official publication of the representation of the KASSR at Sibrevcom. In 1922 he became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the second convocation of the KASSR, in the same year he became one of the first organizers and editors of the newspaper “Yenbekshy Kazakh”, authoritative and one of the mass print media of the region.

And during the mass famine of 1921-1922 in Kazakhstan he became an extraordinary commissioner to help the starving. The State Archives of Astana contains valuable information on the participation of Temir-Bulat in the elimination of outbreaks and the aftermath of famine in the Territory of Akmola County.

In 1923-1924 he was appointed a member of the Akmolinsk provincial court, and also became a recognized political leader and organizer of the Komsomol among the youth of Siberia at the Siberian regional Kirghiz-Tatar bureau at Sibbureau CPSU (b).

The Kazakh community in Omsk

Temir-Bulat also took an active part in the work of the unique Kazakh student community, which has not been interrupted in Omsk land to this day. He helped needy students from various regions to adapt more easily in Omsk, especially in the first years of school. He organized participation in socially significant events among students. As one of the famous artists of Kazakhstan, Aubakir Ismailov recalled: "In Omsk in the south-eastern part of the city, beyond the Omka River, from the ancient times there lived Kazakhs. This part was called in the people "Karzhas". Already in the XIX century Omsk became a cultural center, where later the Kazakh youth got education. One of the well-known and respected residents in the 1920s was Temir-Bulat Telzhanov. He helped a lot of students and when we, I, Aubakir Ismailov, Kosshubayev Malik, Sarsenbayev Sarsenbai studied at the Omsk Art Technical School named after Vrubel on courses to prepare for the Art Universities, he helped us to get paint, ink, canvases.

In 1928 on May 2 in the club named after Khalturin an evening of Kazakh students was held. The day before, I and Kosshubayev Malik with the help of Temir-Bulat Telzhanov wrote and pasted posters (Arabic font). At the evening there were: a friend of Temir-Bulat Telzhanov Smagul Sadvakasov, Gabit Musrepov. A concert took place, where Magzhan Zhumabaev, the famous singer Kali Baizhanov, performed with their poems. At the request of T. Telzhanov, he sang the Shokpay version of "Eki zheren", "Arman". At the same concert I danced "Kara Zhorga". An exhibition of the open-air works was held in the hall. Temir-Bulat Telzhanov watched our paintings attentively, talked to us and because he liked our paintings very much, said: I have a son, when he grows up, I will necessarily teach him to the artist.

On May 9, in the area of ​​Karzhas, not far from the big Mosque, there were organized folk festivals, where Aktai Mamanov, known at that time, performed "Kozy Korpesh", "Enlik Kebek". At the same festivities, Temir-Bulat Telzhanov organized a collection of financial assistance for Kazakh students. In the beginning of June in the city of Petropavlovsk there was a big concert that helped organize T. Telzhanov. The famous singer Ukili Ybyrai, narrators, chorus, dancers performed on stage. After, we met with T. Telzhanov and I told him about my desire to be exhibited at a traveling exhibition. And he, along with journalist Serkebaev helped me."

Participation of Temir-Bulat in the Territorial Disengagement Commission

As a true patriot of his people, he entered the republican commission under Sibrevcom for the location of the borders of Siberian region and the KASSR, while taking a firm position on including Omsk and Omsk district in the Kazakh autonomy in the name of the triumph of historical justice. By the way, until 1893 the territory of this district was completely populated by Kazakhs, with the exception of Omsk and parts of Presnogorkovskaya and Irtysh Cossack lines. In the Representation of the Kyrgyz ASSR under Sibrevcom he, along with T. Togzhanov, supervised questions with party work. For example, he initiated the opening in Petropavlovsk of a medical school for the release of "medical Muslims" with the establishment of a quota of 60 people, of which 40 seats are for Kazakhs, 20 for Tatars. He took an active part in the work of the established Literary Collegium, which was designed to widely publicize information about the Kyrgyz republic.

But unfortunately, by the end of the 1920s, the beginning of the policy of collectivization he, like other former Alash people, was removed from the negotiation process, and in 1930 Omsk and the most fertile northeastern part of the county finally became part of the Omsk province.

Years of study in Orenburg and Leningrad

Soon a huge craving for knowledge led him to the working class in Orenburg, which he successfully graduated in 1924. And in 1925 he enrolled in the Economics Faculty of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. Within the walls of this university he continued to work in the local Kazakh community, which then numbered up to 250 people from Kazakhstan and various regions of Russia. He led the circle work, lectured on pressing social and economic problems. In parallel, he worked in the house of culture of the peoples of the East, engaged in teaching activities in public disciplines in the Leningrad Art College.

In Leningrad, he closely communicated with prominent representatives of the Kazakh people M. Auezov, A. Margulan, S. Mukanov and many others, was again, as in Omsk, the initiator of the organization of the Kazakh community. Here is how the well-known Kazakh writer S. Mukanov remembers this warmly: "In Leningrad there was a good custom: students who came from different regions and union republics organize the so-called community. Kazakh students also organized such community ... The Kazakh community comprised about 250 people at that time. Its chairman was the student of the Polytechnic Institute Temir-Bulat Telzhanov, secretary - the student of the Energy Institute Ybyrai Tazhiev. To Temir-Bulat Telzhanov, I came to consult on the housing affairs. He organized me the same day."

State and teaching work

In 1929-1930, successfully combining his studies, he worked as a senior economist, deputy head of the export and import Office of the People's Commissariat of KASSR. In the same period, he found time to participate in the sowing campaign and collective farm construction. In 1931 he worked as an assistant professor, head of the department of political economy in the Almaty Agricultural Institute. In 1931 to 1934 he was in the teaching and administrative positions of neighboring Russia: he was an assistant professor at the Department of Political Economy at the Leningrad Oriental Institute named after Yenukidze, an assistant director and head of the agricultural department of the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy in Moscow. Soon he was promoted to the post of deputy director of the University of Marxism-Leninism, which was a clear recognition of his organizational talent and qualities as an experienced teacher and skilful leader.

As is known Temir-Bulat Telzhanov owned almost all the Turkic languages ​​of the USSR, as well as Russian, German and Turkish. October 21, 1934, during a secret ballot was elected director of the Research Institute of Livestock with the participation of the first secretary of the Communist Party of KazSSR L. Mirzoyan. And at a meeting of the Region Bureau of the CPSU (B) as of November 16, 1935, he was sent to a teaching job at the Agricultural Institute named after L. Mirzoyan.

State and socio-political activities of Telzhanov proceeded among many prominent figures of the intelligentsia of the 20-30s of the last century.

Political repression of T. Telzhanov and the fate of his family

Mass political repressions were approaching. They did not bypass Temir-Bulat Mukhamedzhanovich: on January 6, 1936, the Almaty City Committee of the Party expelled him from the party for concealing his social origin, participation in the so-called Alash "counter-revolutionary organization". This was followed by his arrest on November 4, 1937. According to the decree of the "troika" of the NKVD in the Leningrad region as of April 15, 1938, he was sentenced to the death penalty - execution.

A difficult fate befell his family. After his arrest, the family continued to stay in Leningrad. His wife Zhamal with his two children Kanafiya and Aisha still lived with the parents of the repressed. In the fall of 1941, Kanafiya, along with other schoolchildren, was evacuated from Leningrad in the village Kolkovo of the Kirov region. Here is what he writes about this in his memoirs: "When I came down with a backpack behind my back from the third floor and looked back at the one standing at the door, and silently escorted me to the evacuation - my mother, I realized that I would never see her again." Zhamal, who remained in the besieged Leningrad, was killed by hunger, as hundreds of thousands of citizens, and Aisha was sent to Molotov, along with students from the famous Leningrad Choreographic School named after A.Ya. Vaganova.

April 5, 1942 Kanafiya Telzhanov received mournful news of the death of his mother, who died at the age of 36 in besieged Leningrad. Kanafiya twice creates a small detachment of resistance from the number of orphans from Leningrad. He sets before the battle group the task to reach the blockaded city and take part in its defense. But at the nearest stations the "Resistance" was removed from the train and returned to Kirov. In these circumstances, when they did not allow him to make war near Leningrad, he decided to return to Almaty, but he was categorically refused for every appeal. In this desperate situation for him, the cold and blizzard winter of 1942, he travels from the village Rusanovo to the regional center of Khalturin on foot, having traveled over a deep and loose snow more than 20 kilometers. He meets with the police chief, who after convincing arguments of the young man, still gives him permission to leave the region. On his way back to the orphanage, he meets the hungry wolves.

About this case, Kanafia himself says: "The creators of our legends about the fact that the ancestors of the Kazakhs were born from a she-wolf are probably right": looking at each other's eyes, the wolves and their "relative" Kanafiya diverge peacefully. So, in fifteen years the independent life of the future artist from the Kirov region began. With difficulties he reached Alma-Ata. He was immediately accepted for the second year of the Alma-Ata Art College.

In 1947 he successfully completed his studies and entered the painting faculty of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I.E. Repin Academy of Arts of the USSR. In 1953, successfully defending the thesis, he returns to the capital of Kazakhstan and immediately begins to teach at senior courses at the Art College. He raised his children, worthy of the memory of his illegally repressed father Temir-Bulat, the respected grandfather Mukhamedzhan, giving them an excellent education and upbringing.

Rehabilitation of Т. Telzhanov

By definition of the tribunal of the Leningrad Military District as of May 28, 1958, the decision against his father was quashed and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. There is also a reference from the Soviet District Committee of the Alma-Ata Communist Party of Kazakhstan dated January 5, 1990 and the Resolution of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan as of December 29, 1989, Protocol No. 104, on party rehabilitation of Telzhanov and the his restoration in the ranks of the CPSU posthumously. But it cost a lot. Despite the fact that his children lived all their lives with the stigma of "the children of the enemy of the people," Kanafia openly sought the restoration of the good name of his father.

For example, this is what he wrote to the Party Control Commission of the CPSU Central Committee as of September 11, 1989, addressed to K. Pugo, when the indiscriminate accusations of the Kazakhs in nationalism were still fresh: "When will these crimes end and will they ever end - this earthliness, disfiguring souls and the best spiritual impulses of sons and daughters, the so-called "children of fathers-criminals!"? I can not accept this insult and leave with this stigma in another world, although life at sunset and remained a little. I can not accept it and agree with such a conclusion of untruth in the face of the future generation. After our time comes a new tribe - a young, unfamiliar. I can not allow this lie to decompose and poison their mind with poison. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren should not be ashamed of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, for their not sung to the end songs, their undiscovered talents, for their lives, or their lives that have been unfairly taken from them. Let them breathe deeply, which did not have to be experienced by our generation." Admittedly, this letter was the beginning of the process of full rehabilitation of his father.

Memory of the worthy son of the Kazakh people

The name of Temir-Bulat Telzhanov will forever remain in the memory of the Kazakh people, as one of their most worthy sons. Our youth should take an example from him, because such people like he was brought benefits and glory to their people. To the great regret, the names of Kazakhs born outside of modern Kazakhstan are undeservedly abandoned: for example, in Russia, according to the formed unwritten rules, they are hardly remembered, and Kazakhstan researchers do not study them at all, hoping for their Russian colleagues. The names of many Kazakhs born and raised outside the Republic of Kazakhstan are waiting for their new researchers. We are convinced that the streets and avenues of the cities of Kazakhstan will be named after Temir-Bulat Mukhamedzhanovich Telzhanov. His grateful descendants will certainly put him a monument. Scientists will write about him their memories. Our youth should look like he – honest, educated, devoted, selflessly loved his country and people.

By Ziyabek KABULDINOV

Translated by Raushan MAKHMETZHANOVA

Use of materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires written or oral permission from the Board of Editors or the author. Hyperlink to National Digital History portal is necessary. All rights reserved by the Law RK “On author’s rights and related rights”. To request authorization email to kaz.ehistory@gmail.com or call to (7172) 79 82 06 (ext.111).