PERSONALIA

Tatar history is rich in outstanding personalities. The section Personalia will provide information about the lives and the public and scientific works of intellectuals who have devoted their lives to the enlightenment and education of the Tatar people and who have played an important role in the socio-philosophical, cultural, and educational spheres of lives of the Turkic-Tatar people and Muslims.

The historical homeland of the Tatars is considered to be located in the center of Eastern Europe and Eurasia and the very western part of the Turkic world. The city of Kazanforms a link between the East and Arabic countries and was known as the national renaissance capital for Tatars in the 19th-20th centuries.

Such cultural centers of the Oriental and Turkic worlds as Kazan, Orenburg, Bakhchisaray, Uralsk, Ufa, Astrakhan were sites of social and religious renovation in the beginning of the 20th century. Quite a number of prominent figures came from these cultural oases. The intellectuals who were born and grew up in such places became famous for playing important roles not only in Tatar history but in the histories of all peoples living in the Volga region and the Urals.

These persons have acertain experience in studying Tatar history. Information about patriots, leaders of national renovation, and representatives of noble Tatar families who had a great impact on Tatar world development can be found in the first books about Tatar history. These works are Mostafadel-Akhbar Phiakhvali Kazan va Bolgar by the historian, philosopher, educator and religious scholar S.Marjani and the works by R.Fakhretdin such as Asar Famous People and Great Events, Famous Men, and Famous Women.

Due to ideological restrictions during the Soviet period, information about the selfless people of the nation was only printed in biographic and literary dictionaries, historical documents, and special sections of journals.Only at the end of the 20thand the beginning of 21st centuries,did biographies and multi-faceted activities of Tatar people who made sacrificesfor the benefit of the nation come to light. On the pages of The Tatar Encyclopedia we can find information briefing the readers about the lives and works of people who were heretofore unknown. Owing to the foundation of Jien, biographies and histories started to be published making it possible to document the lives of many outstanding Tatars such as P.Karimi, S.Marjani, R.Fakhretdin, G.Kariev, K.Tinchurin, A.Khasani, G.Sagdi and G.Rakhim. Moreover, such books also published works about other non-Tatar persons who had made great contributions to Tatar studies, namely, K.Fuchs and V.Radlov among others. These books were edited by the historian, philologist, and notable figure M.Gosmanov.

There is still much to be done. Quite a number of heroes who dedicated their lives to serving the Tatar people, who lived abroad, and therefore remained unknown, deserve to have their stories told. Thenames of theseoutstanding personalities, forgotten for a myriad of reasons, will be remembered and given back to the Tatar peopleand our rich historythrough the pages of the Tatarica journal. The biographies of these selfless persons who served the nation consecrating their lives to the Tatar people could be used to uplift our youth and inspire pride in their nation, help them develop a sense of national identity and the desire to do their duty for the benefit of the Tatar people.