On October 5, 2006, at the age of 52, an outstanding scientist, public figure of the Republic of Kazakhstan and a talented teacher, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Nurbulat Edigeevich Masanov died suddenly.

The scale of his personality is such that he had a huge moral impact on the formation of not only Kazakhstan's political science, ethnography, sociology, but also the statehood of Kazakhstan. A powerful intellect and a keen sense of civic responsibility allowed him to always be "above the fray" and tell the truth to society. He was always above any conjunctural considerations. His name has become a real intellectual business card of Kazakhstan.

In 1976, Nurbulat Masanov graduated from the Kazakh State University named after S. Kirov. After graduation, he worked at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. In 1986-1988, he was the Scientific Secretary of the Department of Social Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. From 1992 to 1998-Associate Professor, Professor of the Kazakh State University. In 1992, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the topic "Specifics of social development of nomadic Kazakhs in the pre-revolutionary period: historical and ecological aspects of nomadism", on which he prepared a fundamental monograph " Nomadic civilization of the Kazakhs (fundamentals of nomadic life society)", published in 1995. In total, he published more than 150 scientific and nonfiction works.

At the dawn of Kazakhstan's independence, Nurbulat Edigeevich became one of the founders of the International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law in Kazakhstan, a member of the board of the Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation, and for several years was engaged in expert political consulting and public activities. He was an ambassador from the democratic community abroad, and met with MEPs on several occasions. On his initiative, the first Forum of Democratic Forces was established in Kazakhstan in 1999.

As Nurbulat's widow Laura rightly said: "He gave out his ideas right and left, he could give his idea to anyone, he was so generous... He said: "Good! Okay, that's my idea. So what? The main thing is that this person will think about it, he will bring it to its logical end." He wanted to live in a good, kind, beautiful world and sought to move the reality around him at least a little in this direction. So that people respect themselves, respect their place in this life, so that they can fight for themselves... He lived in order to create a new generation that will be able to build their own lives and build this new happy life ...".

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In this characteristic - all Nurbulat. A scientist, open to the world, original, versatile researcher and a real polymath. A man who lived his life honestly, devoted himself to science and his numerous students.

That's why the lectures he gave at Kaz.GU, became a Kazakh legend of the "perestroika times". Its audience included not only historians, but also students from all other faculties - lawyers, journalists, and philologists. Nurbulat Masanov was a real educator, who taught freedom of thought, sound understanding of historical experience, and the ability to critically perceive the knowledge gained. His lectures were legendary. The same popularity was later enjoyed by his discussion club "Politon" in Alma-Ata.

Without pathos or any inner anguish, he consistently and patiently defended his democratic views and beliefs. It was this lack of exaltation that turned Nurbulat Masanov into a kind of "Kazakhstan tuning fork", according to which scientists, politicians, publicists of Kazakhstan and the whole of Central Asia were compared.

It is no exaggeration to call Nurbulat Edigeyevich "the father of Kazakhstan's political science and geopolitics". It was he who founded and developed the genre of political analysis in the republic. Thanks to him, political science has become popular in Kazakhstan.

Masanov was the first in Kazakhstan to link applied and academic science together. Nurbulat Edigeevich could clearly and eloquently convey his thoughts to the ordinary reader. At the same time, he was of the opinion, not in words, but in practice, that truth is born in the course of discussion.

He was a sincere, sympathetic and very kind person, ready to help anyone who came to him. A man with an open heart, which, unfortunately, was so often wounded by people who envied Nurbulat Edigeevich's talents. If these wounds were less, who knows, maybe there would not have been a tragic evening on October 5.

Nurbulat was proud of the past of his people. It was this feeling that became the main motivation when he decided to head the first Institute for the Study of Nomads in Central Asia created on his initiative, which was recognized in a short time by many reputable scientists of the world. The scientist made long-term plans to study the topic of nomads and nomadism in the world historical process and create a new type of history textbooks. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unsolved problems and unrealized plans. Without Nurbulat, it will be very difficult to implement all of them...

With the departure of Nurbulat Edigeyevich, not only science, but also politics suffered a heavy loss, because Masanov was not a "desk scientist": his views influenced people who make politics. Moreover, they influenced both those who are in the opposition and officials invested with the highest state power. It seems that Kazakhstan's society will need a long time to understand what an irreparable loss it has experienced. The untimely and unexpected death of a brilliant scientist marked a certain historical period in the life of sovereign Kazakhstan.

We sincerely extend our condolences to Nurbulat Edigeyevich's mother, his wife Laura Yertayevna, son Majer, and daughters Aliya and Inara.

The bright and grateful memory of Nurbulat Masanov will always remain in our hearts.

EMPLOYEES OF THE INSTITUTE OF ORIENTAL STUDIES OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

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