Verny Men’s Gymnasium and Future Alash Figures

On September 1, 1876, the local tsarist authorities opened the Verny men's gymnasium to enable the children of the indigenous nomadic population to receive a secondary education and continue their studies at the universities of the Russian Empire.Those who graduated from the gymnasium worked as translators in the center and districts of the Zhetysu region.In 1883-1911, future representatives of the Alash movement in Zhetysu were educated in this secondary educational institution.The purpose of the article is to study the first stage in the formation of Alash figures in Zhetysu -education at the Verny men's gymnasium; to consider the opening of this gymnasium and the rules for enrolling students, its potential, teaching staff, student apartment, conditions for admission to a boarding school;to analyze, on the basis of conduit sheets of students, academic performance, discipline, passing tests, reasons for the departure of Kazakh children; to reveal the essence and significance of the historical trace left by the men's gymnasium on the Zhetysu Alash figures and their life path.The article studies Alash figures in Zhetysu who studied at the Verny men's gymnasium in the late 19th -early 20th centuries (on the basis of archival sources).In the gymnasium, the children lived in a boarding house, studied Russian and French, Latin, algebra, geometry, history, geography, and took tests.They learned to live in a state-owned house, obey order, be true friends and reliable associates.They developed the skills of reading books, knowledge of languages and philosophical thinking, the ability to express their opinion.The childhood of the future leaders of the Alash movement in Zhetysu, who aspired to get an education, passed within the walls of the Verny men's gymnasium.Studying at the gymnasium predetermined their appointment to the civil service, receiving higher education and becoming qualified specialists in their field.Some of them occupied the administrative positions and became influential people in the region, while others were drawn into the national liberation struggle at the beginning of the 20th century.