This information was provided by the director of the village school in Saylyk, Nazgul Teitova, in a conversation with a Turmush correspondent.
As Teitova notes, Dür lost his mother just two months after his birth. Subsequently, he dedicated his life to education; however, his fate took a drastic turn when he was sentenced to death. The order for clemency, signed by M.V. Frunze, arrived too late—two days too late.
According to archival data, Dür was born in 1866. In 1884, he entered a military gymnasium in the city of Verny, now Almaty, where he studied for a year. During this time, he mastered the Russian language, which later played an important role in his life. Upon returning home, he decided to establish a school in his native village.
Dür's father, Sooronbay, was a district ruler and divided the Tynai tribe into four districts. Dür, becoming the district manager of one of them, took on the responsibility for 400 families. In 1916, during a period of persecution, he managed to prevent the mass exodus of these families to China, saving them from repression.
Dür's dream of creating a school was realized in 1889. He approached the county authorities and collected 7 imperial rubles from each family for construction. The school was built along the road leading along the Great Silk Road, using burnt bricks for the foundation. Special people were sent to Chon-Kemin to gather timber. At that time, vehicles were rare, and the logs were transported down the Chui River with the help of local aksakals. As a result, a quality school with spacious windows, corridors, and three main classrooms emerged, becoming the best in the region. In the 1889-1890 academic year, 60 students enrolled in the school. Initially named "Tynai," instruction was conducted in Arabic, but the following year it was switched to Russian for Kyrgyz children. In 1906, Ilya Timofeevich Ponomarev became the director. From 1909, evening courses for adults began to be held at the school, teaching Russian language, geography, and arithmetic. Among the school's graduates were notable figures such as Togolok Moldо, Belek Soltonov, and Eshenaaly Arabayev. In 1918, Dür was sentenced to death, although his merits were evident. Frunze believed he should be spared for the benefit of Soviet power; however, the order for clemency arrived too late. Currently, the school in Saylyk bears the name of Dür, its founder,” the director said.
Nazgul Teitova also shared the story of the birth of Sooronbay uulu Dür in 1866.
“Sooronbay, Dür's father, was a respected district ruler who always planned his actions in advance and cared about the future of the people under his governance. Khan Zhantai highly valued Sooronbay and kept him close, like a relative. One day, during a trip around the district, Zhantai noticed that Sooronbay was paying attention to a young girl from a Kazakh clan and said, ‘This girl could make a good wife. Are you sure?’ To which Sooronbay replied, ‘If a good person sees another good person, he cannot be mistaken.’ The Khan agreed, proposing marriage, while strongly advising not to make a mistake in the choice. Eventually, they went to the girl's family and, following Kazakh traditions, arranged the betrothal. The girl, though slightly spoiled, came from a good family and became Sooronbay's junior wife. Later, she became pregnant, and when the time for childbirth came, Sooronbay was very anxious. He went far from home to pray. At that moment, a man from the village came to him with joyful news: ‘Your wife has given birth to a son.’ Sooronbay, feeling a wave and the shaking of the earth, realized that his son had been born. Soon after that, unfortunately, his wife passed away, leaving Dür as the sole heir. Sooronbay's elder wife took on the care of Dür, raising him alongside her other children,” the school director shared.
