Edige Aydarbekuly Masanov (19.11.1926-14.07.1965) was a talented scientist of the Kazakh people and one of the founders of Kazakh ethnography and historiography.

He was born on November 19, 1926, in Semey city, in the family of the well-known public figure Aydarbek Baymukhameduly and Zeynep Waliqyz Masanov. His father was a victim of political repression.

In 1941, while studying in high school, he added four years to his age and went to serve in the military. Although official documents state his birth year as 1922, his actual birth year was 1926.

A cadet of the infantry school, from June 1943 he served as a private in the 8th Guards Airborne Brigade, and from January 1945, he was an air gunner in the 502nd Assault Aviation Regiment. From January to May 1945, he participated in the Great Patriotic War, fighting against the enemy in the II Baltic and Leningrad fronts. He was discharged from the army in March 1947.

In 1948, he entered Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov and graduated in 1953. He worked as a teacher in a secondary school in Karaganda city. In 1955, he entered graduate school at the N. N. Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnography in Moscow. From October 1958 until the end of his life, he worked first as a junior researcher and then as a senior researcher at the Sh. Ualikhanov Institute of History, Archaeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. He led ethnographic expeditions sent to various regions of the republic.

In March 1960, he defended his candidate dissertation on the topic "The Occupation and Handicrafts of the Kazakh People at the End of the 19th Century and the Beginning of the 20th Century." On March 1, 1960, he was awarded the title of Candidate of Historical Sciences by the decision of the Ethnography Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

Edige Aydarbekuly actively participated in the scientific public activities of the institute. His scientific works were dedicated to the study of the ethnography of the Kazakh people. Among the approximately 40 scientific works he authored are "The Production of Felt by the Kazakh People in the Second Half of the 19th Century and the Beginning of the 20th Century," "The Study of Kazakh Ethnography in Russia until 1845," "On the Jewelry and Blacksmithing Arts of the Kazakhs," etc.

He wrote scientific works about Sh. M. Ibragimov, Sh. Sh. Ualikhanov, and Y. Altysariny. He is the author of the monographs "Essays on the Development of the History of Science in Kazakhstan" and "Essay on the Ethnography of Kazakhstan Studies in the USSR."

E. Masanov had very good friendly relations with well-known historian-ethnographers such as R. Suleimenov, V. Yudin, K. Arginbaev, and Marat Mukhanov. He regularly kept in touch with his classmates, discussing scientific topics. He shared a remarkable interest in Kazakh history and ethnography, especially with the famous archaeologist K. Alpyssayev, ethnographer G. Iskhakov, and historians Ramazan Suleimenov and V. Yudin.

Edige Masanov died on July 14, 1965, at the age of 38 during an ethnographic expedition. In the Zhezdy district of Karaganda region, he attempted to save a colleague who was drowning, even though he himself did not know how to swim.