Exhibition timed to Kanysh Satbayev's 120th Birth Anniversary starts in Almaty
The exhibition showcases Kanysh Satbayev's personal belongings: photographs, books, awards, souvenirs, and various materials.
Presently, a minor planet and a town in Karaganda region are named after the prominent scientist. His name is immortalized in a mineral, flowers, glacier and mountain peak, streets, enterprises, and institutions of Kazakhstan.
"Being already a well-known geologist, in 1941, Kanysh Satbayev moved from Zhezqazghan to Alma-Ata (now Almaty). In 1942, he was appointed as Chairman of the Presidium of the Kazakh Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
However, he wanted Kazakhstan to have own Academy of Sciences, and, therefore, he had repeatedly raised this matter with Moscow. For five years, Satbayev brought together scientists, fostered talents. Seeing the results of his work, President of the USSR Academy of Sciences Vladimir Komarov made a recommendation to the Kazakh SSR Government for establishing an
independent republican Academy of Sciences. As a result, the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences was opened on June 1, 1946, in Alma-Ata," recalls Nadezhda Niretina, Chief specialist of the Historical Heritage Center, Head of Satbayev Memorial Office of Satbayev University.
The Satbayev Award of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences for outstanding achievements in the field of natural sciences was established. Besides, Satbayev International Foundation was created.
Scientists, representatives of the intelligentsia, students and close relatives of Kanysh Satbayev took part in the opening of the exhibition.
Well-known scientists and public figures expressed their opinions on his contribution to the science of Kazakhstan.
According to Aspandiyar Adenuly, a member of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan, the name of Kanysh Satbayev is associated with one of the crucial pages of the history of geological exploration and discovery of Kazakhstan's mineral wealth, the expansion of the mineral resources base of the country.
"He was the founder of the metallogenic area in the geology of Kazakhstan. During the Second World War, thanks to the discoveries of copper and manganese deposits in Kazakhstan by Kanysh Satbayev, 9 out of 10 bullets, 7 out of 10 tanks were made of Kazakhstani metal. The opening
of the first institute of geology in Central Asia and the opening of the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences reflect credit on Kanysh Satbayev," Aspandiyar Adenuly said.
Kanysh Satbayev was the first president of the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences and the first Kazakh academician in the USSR. He created over 640 scientific papers. He was awarded four orders of Lenin and the Order of the Great Patriotic War, was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Kazakh SSR. April 12, 2019, marks the academician's 120th birth anniversary.
The exhibition "The Great Scientist of the Kazakh Land" dedicated to the 120th Birth Anniversary of the academician will be open until June 1.