Baituma Turarov

Baituma Turarov (1919–2022)

Baituma Turarov was born in 1919 in the Shalkode region of the Raiymbek district of the Almaty region. In 1939, he was called up for military service and trained in the searchlight regiment fighting against air raids in Kiev. Thanks to his mathematical skills and excellent knowledge of the Russian language, he caught the attention of commanders and was assigned to operate searchlights and calculate the distance to aircraft. This was a very difficult and dangerous job: searchlight operators were responsible for guiding enemy bombers and shooting them down at anti-aircraft targets.

He was on the front lines from the beginning of the war in 1941. In 1944, he was seriously wounded and returned home. For his heroism in the war, he was awarded military awards, including the Order of the Red Star. He returned to his village safely in 1947.

He devoted his post-war life to education. Since 1945, he worked continuously in the Almaty region, becoming a qualified teacher of mathematics. In 1970, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for his achievements in education and upbringing. He was awarded the title of Outstanding Educator of the Kazakh SSR and the USSR, and was an Honorary Citizen of the Raiymbek district. Among his students were doctors of mathematical sciences, candidates of sciences, and hundreds of highly educated specialists. One of them was the famous scientist, doctor of mathematical sciences Auzhan Sakabekov.

The peculiarity of his teaching work was that each of his lessons was held at the level of an open lesson. He never got bored with educating his students, and he did it with enthusiasm. According to him, he lived by the principle: “I have many intelligent followers whom I have raised and brought up, and when I see them, I feel like I am among you.”

Baituma Turarov was also the owner of a large family. Together with his wife Shynar, he raised four sons and three daughters. His children and grandchildren continue the example of their ancestors and are thriving. Having reached the age of one hundred, the venerable old man, who drank water from the hands of his great-grandson, left a blessed upbringing to his generation.

He lived in Almaty until the end of his life, was a member of the Auezov district veterans' council. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 103.

One of the streets in the Turksib district of Almaty was named after Baituma Turarov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. The length of the street is 635 meters.