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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.”
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| The library display of Kurtiev books and momentos. |
(Information
for this blog came from the Gasprinskiy Library website and the QHA news
service.)
