Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Refat Kurtiev Archives Donated to the Library


Refat Kurtiev, 1925 - 2012
On May 15th, the Gasprinskiy Library hosted an event in the Reading Hall celebrating the transfer to the library of the books, manuscripts and documents of famous Crimean Tatar historian, ethnographer and activist, Refat Kurtiev.
Refat Kurtiev was born in 1925 in Crimea. He received a military education and was a special officer in the Soviet army. In 1944 when his family was deported from Crimea, he was away fighting in the war. It wasn’t until 1951 that he was able to find his parents, “living in a barn in appalling conditions.” He described the conditions of deportation in his book, Life in the Deportation: How it was- 1944-1956.
In Uzbekistan he became an activist in the Crimean Tatar National Movement, resulting in his being fired from the Soviet army. He returned to Crimea in 1985 and began to actively study and write about the history of the Crimean Tatar people. Refat Kurtiev was a delegate to the II, III and IV Kurultay (Congress) of the Crimean Tatar people and a member of the Audit Commission of the Kurultay from 1996 to 2007. Throughout his life, Refat Kurtiev continued to play an active role as a leader of the Crimean Tatar people to revive their native language, culture, and religion, and served as a “demanding and thoughtful” mentor to many young people who entered the national movement in Crimea.  He died at the age of 87 on March 3, 2012.
Refat Kurtiev during interview with library methodologist
The library event opened with a showing of a recent interview with Refat Kurtiev by library methodologist Elmaz Emerova, taken only a few weeks before his death. His widow and lifelong companion, Leila Belyalova, spoke of his passion for books and that "wherever he was, he always brought home a bag of books, frequently spending his pension on the purchase of new publications."  His entire collection of 1575 books was donated to the Gasprinskiy Library.
Library Director Gulnara Yagaeva opened the event.
Many Crimean Tatar famous figures attended the event and gave tribute to this beloved Crimean Tatar leader. Vadim Erinyak, First Deputy Minister of Culture of AR Crimea, said “This is a momentous event for all of us…Refat Kurtiev is a man who did much for his people…unfortunately he is no longer with us but his work will live on.”
First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, spoke of the bequeathment of Refat Kurtiev’s personal library as “a great service for scholars and historians and for the younger generation to be aware of the difference he made during his lifetime.”
Other public figures  who attended the event and paid tribute to Renat Kurtiev were:  Aziz Abdullaev, Vice Chairman on the AR Crimea Council of Ministers; Remzi Ilyasov, AR Crimea Verkhovna Rada Deputy and  Chairman of the Standing Committee on International Relations and the Problems of Deportees; Eden Dudakov, Chairman of the National Committee for Relations between Peoples of Crimea; Safura Kadzhametova, AR Crimea Verkhovna Rada Deputy; and Safinar Dzhemilev, Chairman of the League of Crimean Tatar Women.
Aziz Abdullaev assists Kurtiev's widow, Leila Belyalova.
Following the speeches, a special ribbon cutting ceremony was held to officially open the library collection of Kurtiev’s books and manuscripts.
Three days after this event at the library, on May 18th, was the annual Day of Memory of the Deportation of the Crimean Tatars. In his memoir published in 2007, Refat Kurtiev spoke of this day: “I always go to this rally, and I believe that such events bind together our people. And I want to say again, we are not ethnic minorities…we are the people of Crimea.”
The library display of Kurtiev books and momentos.
(Information for this blog came from the Gasprinskiy Library website and the QHA news service.)

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Library receives a MNRPVC grant!



Last week, the library received the wonderful news that they had been awarded a grant from the Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteer organization (mnrpcv.org). MNRPVC gives small grants of up to $1000 to support the projects of Peace Corps Volunteers from Minnesota. As a 20-year resident of Minneapolis, I was happy to hear of this program and eager to apply.
Alime and Nadjie from the Acquistions Department sort through the copies of Lenin Banner.
A copy of Lenin Banner showing the deteriorating condition.
Nadjie and I look at a bound copy with Elvira from the Reading Hall.
In this project funded by the MNRPVC grant, the Gasprinskiy Library will continue their work of preserving historical documents about Crimean Tatar culture. The MNRPVC grant will especially help the preservation of the originals of Crimean Tatar language newspapers in the library collection. In particular, the library is concerned with the deterioration of the newspaper, Lenin Banner (a name which allowed the newspaper to be published with minimum scrutiny by the authorities). Published in the Crimean Tatar language in Uzbekistan during the Crimean Tatar exile, Lenin Banner is one of the most important documents to give a detailed description of the daily life of Crimean Tatar people in Uzbekistan, and thus is an invaluable resource in understanding this period in Crimean Tatar history. The Gasprinskiy Library possesses one of the few complete collections of the Lenin Banner, but because of the lack of funding to properly bind and protect the newspapers, the collection is deteriorating. Funds from a MNRPCV grant will allow the library to purchase the materials necessary to bind the newspapers into volumes that will lessen their deterioration and make them more usable for library patrons.  Funds from the grant will also allow the library to purchase a small printer capable of printing the necessary labeling and annotation of the newspapers.
We are very grateful to the Board of Directors and grant review committee of the MNRPVC for recognizing the importance of the work of the Gasprinskiy Library in preserving the cultural heritage of the Crimean Tatar people and agreeing to support that work with their MNRPVC Grants Program.