Ismail Gasprinsky (Gaspirali) - Crimean Tatar educator, intellectual, writer and publisher. He received fame and recognition among all Muslims of the Russian Empire. Was one of the founders of Pan-Turkism and Jedidism
One of the most famous figures in the Turkic world is Ismail Gasprinsky. He was distinguished by an outstanding and innovative type of thinking, a sharp mind and amazing energy. This man became a symbol of the renewal of the Turkic world.
The path to the vocation
The biography of the future figure began in 1851. The child was born on March 8 (20) in the Crimean village of Avdzhykoy in the family of Mustafa and Fatima-Sultan. Mom raised and taught her son in early childhood. The grown-up boy was sent to study at the mekteb. The father determined the heir to the male gymnasium of Simferopol.
A couple of years later, Ismail went to the military school in Voronezh, from where he moved to the second Moscow military gymnasium. The boy lived in the family of Katkov, the editor of "Russian Bulletin" and "Moskovskiye Vesti". Gasprinsky met the writer Turgenev, acquired the basic skills of a journalist and became interested in enlightenment.
Ismail's military career did not appeal. He left his studies, deciding to engage in the service of the Tatar people. Returning to the gymnasium of Simferopol, where, after the exam, he received the title of teacher of the Russian language at the primary educational institutions of the city. At first it seemed to the young man that he had found his calling.
Gasprinsky took up the job with all his enthusiasm. However, in 1971 he went to Paris. The young man started working at the Ashet agency as a translator. Ismail was actively interested in social and cultural France, attended lectures at the Sorbonne, became Turgenev's personal secretary. In 1874 Ismail Bey went to Istanbul. He began to improve his Turkish, studied the culture of the country, was interested in the public education system.
Beginning of work
In 1876 Gasprinsky returned to Crimea. He started working as a teacher again. From March 1878, the young teacher became a member of the city council in Bakhchisalar. At the end of November he was appointed deputy mayor. In early March 1879 Gasprinsky became the head of the city. Under him, a hospital for ordinary people was opened in Bakhchisarai, the first lanterns were lit, the budget of the city increased noticeably.
Ismail bey held the post of head until March 5, 1884. Then he returned to more attractive cultural and educational activities. The young man decided to publish his own newspaper. He realized the idea.
In 1883, Terdzhiman (Translator) began to appear. Soon the publication gained unprecedented popularity among the Turkic population of the empire. For a long time, the newspaper was the only periodical in Russia in the Turkic language.
By the beginning of the last century, The Translator had become the world's oldest Muslim newspaper. The publication closed in 1918. The enlightener himself did not even suspect that his publication was very popular abroad. From 1886 the publication of the advertising supplement "Announcement Sheet" began. The first Crimean Turkic magazine "Alemi Nisvan", addressed to women, appeared at the end of 1905. Its editor was the daughter of Ismail bey Shafik.
Publishing and educational activities
In 1906 Gasprinsky published the first comic magazine "Ha-ha-ha" in his native language, founded the weekly "Millet". In Egypt in 1907-1908 the newspaper "Al Nahda" was published in Arabic. Outstanding figures of the Crimean Tatar culture became employees of the publishing house. For his jubilee in 1908, a special typeface named after Gasprinsky was invented.
Ismail Bey founded and developed a more secular teaching method called Jadidism. He significantly influenced the structure and habitual essence of primary education in Muslim countries. Gasprinsky developed the foundations for the transformation of the ethno-confessional system. The principles of the educator were based on the progressive development of society and confessional tolerance.
New manuals have been published. The most famous was the textbook "Teacher of Children". In 1887 Gaprinsky was included in the archival commission of Tavrida. Gasprinsky became one of the founders of the All-Russian Trade Union of Printing Workers. Ismail Bey proposed the organization of "Library Societies".
Personal life
Gasprinsky has written several books. The result of his work was the novel "French Letters" with the utopian story "Dar ul Rahat Muslims" in its composition. Ismail Bey also created the story “Arslan Kyz”, the cycle of short stories “The Mountain of the East”, wrote the story “African Letters - the Land of the Amazons”, as well as the essay “Russian Islam. Thoughts, notes and observations of a Muslim”,“Russian-Eastern agreement. Thoughts, notes and wishes”. The educator proposed and developed new genres of Turkic journalism and literature.
Ismail Bey was married twice. Semur-khanym became his first wife in 18976. A child appeared in the family, the daughter of Hatice. The union was short-lived. Honored Artist of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Edie Ablaeva is the great-granddaughter of the educator.
Bibi-Zukhra Akchurina became Gasprinsky's second wife in 1882. She was also a real companion-in-arms of her husband and his assistant. At the tenth anniversary of the newspaper "Translator" in Bakhchisarai in 1893 she was awarded the unofficial title of Mother of the Nation. The couple raised five children, three sons and two daughters.
Ismail Bey passed away in 1914. He died on 11 September. One of the microdistricts, streets in several cities of the country and in the village of Sovetsky, the library of Simferopol, and the Yevpatoria children's football club are named after him. Monuments have been erected to the educator. There is a House-Museum named after him in Bakhchisarai.
