Nursultan Nazarbayev

He was named Nursultan on the suggestion of his grandmother, Myrzabala; who is said to have a great influence on his upbringing and personality.

Nazarbayev got married to Sara Alpysqyzy and they have three daughters.- Dariga, Dinara and Aliya.

Nazarbayev was born on 6 July 1940 in Chemolgan, near Almaty (Kazakhstan, U.S.S.R.), to Abish and Alzhan Nazarbayev who were Kazakh peasants.

The family stayed at their native place till Joseph Stalin’s collectivization policy and after that they shifted to the mountain region and became nomads.

Sustaining the tough times of the war and post war years, Nazarbayev childhood was burdened with poverty and starvation. Seeing his father struggle, he was a helping hand in whatever his father did at home and at fields for his livelihood.

It was only during the end of World War II when they returned to Chemolgan and Nazarbayey was sent for schooling in Kaskelen where he got the hang of the Russian language.

His knowledge and hard work helped him stand out among his fellows at school. His keen involvement in sports made him physically strong and a master of wresting too.

During the period 1960-1977 he worked as a steelworker and engineer at the Karaganda plant.

Nazarbeyev was involved in the Kazakhstan Magnitka (the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant) since its inception on July 3, 1960. He sustained the tough working conditions in the blast furnace and became one of the best metallurgists.

In 1962, he became a part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) wherein he devoted his majority time and became the secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the Karaganda Metallurgical Kombinat in 1972.

Becoming a Secretary of the Party Committee of the native Karaganda Metallurgical Plant in 1972 was a milestone in his career. He was at the second highest post (after the director) of the plant where a total of 30000 people were employed.

His personal involvement at all levels from the production till the management, a pragmatic approach to problem solving coupled with the empathetic leadership qualities earned him lot of respect of the employees.

Nazarbayev was honored by a postage stamp bearing his photograph.

Other honors bestowed upon him are the Order of the Golden Eagle, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Order of the Badge of Honour, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of Akhmad Kadyrov and many more.

He has been honored by other countries and international institutions. These are the Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, the Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold of Belgium, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile of Egypt, the Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur of France, the Order of Independence of Qatar, the Order of Liberty of Ukraine and many others.

As the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Kazakh, he easily understood the issues people had with the monopoly of the central set ups. He strove for the economic independence of Kazakhstan by introducing democratic proceedings such as the worker’s union.

His support to the “Nevada-Semipalatinsk” (environmental movement in 1989) to shut down the hazardous Semipalatinsk test site was widely appreciated.