Organized cooperatively by Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) and Mimar Sinan University (MSGSÜ), the proceedings presented at International “Soviet Historiography and Issues of Kazakhstan History on occasion of First Kazakh Historian Ermukhan Bekmakhanov’s 100th Birthday” Symposium were published into a book format in English and Turkish by TDBB.
In the book where the life and works of Kazakh historian Ermukhan Bekmakhanov and the issues he held in his writings, in addition to the important topics in Soviet period of Kazakh history were handled from a different perspective, there are presentations of 17 academicians from Kazakhstan, TRNC, and Turkey. The Turkish version of the proceedings book has been published in the name of “Ermukhan Bekmakhanov-Soviet Historiography and Issues ok Kazakhstan History” under the editorship of Abdulvahap Kara and Zeynep Yaman; on the other hand the English version has been published in the name of “Ermukhan Bekmakhanov – The Soviet Historiography and Questions of Kazakhstan History” under the editorship of Abdulvahap Kara, Steven Sabol and Bekir Sadık Topaloğlu.
The book is prominent in the sense that it is the first book that is published on Bekmakhanov in Turkish used in Turkey. The English publication of the book will make the book reachable to the international readers.
Who is Ermukhan Bekmakhanov (1915-1966)
Bekmakhanov, the first Kazakh who was graduated from history department in Soviet period (1937) and made his PhD in History (1946), opened the first Kazakhstan History Department in Kazakh State University in 1947 and managed this department until his death in 1966, raising many historians.
Bekmakhanov led the publication of the first class book for secondary schools on History of Kazakhstan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1943. In 1947 he published his PhD Dissertation in Russian namely “Kazakhstan between 1920 and 1940” on Kenesarı Khan (1802-1847) who led the rebellion against Czarist Russia. After this he faced with political oppression and he was fired. The book was banned and pulled off the shelf. In 1952 he was arrested and was sent to exile to the labor camp in Siberia for 25 years. After the death of Stalin in 1953, he was pardoned in 1954 and returned back to Kazakhstan. Bekmakhanov started to work in his former job and continued his education and studies on Kazakhstan History until his death on 6 May 1966. Bekmakhanov made important contributions to Kazakh national history and has been commemorated in 2015 with variable scientific meetings and events in Kazakhstan and Turkey on occasion of his 100th birthday.
05.12.2016
The Soviet Historiography and The Question of Kazakhstan’s History
