Mannan Turghanbaev

(1886-1937)

Born in 1886 in the Semey province, in the Karakarly district of the Abraly volost, in village No. 2, now in the Abraly district of East Kazakhstan. In 1909, he studied at the "Galiya" madrasa in Ufa. Starting from 1915, a weekly handwritten journal called "Sadak," published by students and graduates of the madrasa, began to be released. The main goal was to engage students in literary creativity. Later, M. Turghanbaev's first poems and articles were published in the "Aikap" magazine (1911-1915) and the "Kazakh" newspaper (1913-1918). The madrasa placed great emphasis on learning languages. Therefore, Turghanbaev mastered Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Russian.

M. Turghanbaev's career began in 1914 as a teacher. In 1915, at the personal request of Kalzhan Konratbaev, who was engaged in educational activities, he wrote the textbook "The Time of the Prophet." The book was distributed through the "Kazakh" newspaper.

On April 27 to May 7, 1917, he was elected as a member of the Provincial Kyrgyz Committee at the Semey provincial Kyrgyz congress. In 1917, the Kazakh national intelligentsia rallied around the idea of Alash - the idea of creating national autonomy for the Kazakh people. Mannan Turghanbaev actively participated in the public and political life of the city, working in the provincial and district Kazakh committees of the "Janar" cultural and educational society. In addition, he regularly published his articles in the "Kazakh," "Saryarka" newspapers, and the "Abai" magazine. In the "Saryarka" newspaper, he was an active member of the editorial board alongside J. Aymauytov, with its responsible editor being K. Gabbasov. The newspaper discussed the issues of the formation of Alash Orda and Kazakh statehood.

After the 1917 revolution, he also taught at the Kazakh school in Alash. From 1918, he taught at the 2-year Kyrgyz pedagogical courses. He engaged in responsible work as a member of the OSK, a member of the provincial executive committee, and a member of the People's Court Council. He actively participated in the establishment of Soviet power in the Kazakh steppe.

Between 1920 and 1992, he collaborated with the "Kazakh Tili" (now "Semey Tany") newspaper, serving as its first editor, editorial board member, and responsible secretary.

In 1931, he was arrested by the NKVD organs but was released a year later. On January 25, 1937, he was re-arrested by the Department of Internal Affairs. At the time of his arrest, he was living in the village of Krasny in the Belaagash district and was a teacher at the village secondary school.

On August 18, 1937, he was sentenced by the troika of the NKVD and executed on August 20. Mannan Turghanbaev was rehabilitated on December 14, 1963, by the Semey regional court due to the lack of criminal composition.