Asel Sheishenaliev, the head of library No. 5, spoke with a correspondent from Turmush about the origin of the photo and Aaly Tokombaev's connection to the village.
“The photograph was taken in 1976. According to the head of the village club, Zhyldyz Sagynbekova, Aaly Tokombaev was related by 'kudachylyq' [marriage arrangement] to a resident of the village of Epkin, public figure Asanbek Tokombaev. The sister of Asanbek, Anara Tokombaeva, became the daughter-in-law of the writer Aaly Tokombaev. In this photograph, Aaly Tokombaev came to visit his 'kuda' [matchmaker] and during his conversation with the shepherds of the Kalinin collective farm — Tokombai Ormokoey, Chalbay Murataliev, and others — he was captured in the photo. At that time, Aaly Tokombaev was a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz SSR,” the librarian said.
Aaly Tokombaev was born in 1904 in the village of Kainy in the Semirechye region. He was a Soviet Kyrgyz writer and poet, one of the founders of Kyrgyz literature. People's Poet of the Kyrgyz SSR (1945), academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR (1954), Hero of Socialist Labor (1974). From 1963 to 1980, he served as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz SSR.
From 1962 to 1978, he was a member of the editorial board for the publication of the "Brief Literary Encyclopedia" on Kyrgyz literature.
Asanbek Tokombaev was born in 1924 in the village of Epkin. He became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1949 and was a participant in the Great Patriotic War. Since 1945, he worked in economic, public, and political roles. From 1945 to 1985, he held several leadership positions, including director of the "Kyrgyzstan" publishing house, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Sovettik Kyrgyzstan" [“Soviet Kyrgyzstan”], second secretary of the Frunze City Committee of the Party, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Kyrgyz SSR, chairman of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz SSR, and chairman of the Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting under the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz SSR.
He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz SSR for the 6th to 11th convocations.
