Atamyrat Niyazov (; born 1912 in

Gypjak Gypjak (also known as Kipchak) is a former village that was annexed into the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat in 2013. It is now a neighborhood in Bagtyýarlyk Borough of Ashgabat. Overview The neighborhood is known as having been the home village o ...

Transcaspian Oblast The Transcaspian Oblast (russian: Закаспійская область), or just simply Transcaspia (russian: Закаспія), was the section of Russian Empire and early Soviet Russia to the east of the Caspian Sea during the second half of ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

; died 24 December 1942 in Chikola,

North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( os, Цӕгат Ирыстоны Автономон Советон Социалистон Республикӕ, Tsagât Ireštone Âvtonomon Šovêton Šotsiâlišton Rêšpublika; russian: ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) was a soldier in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

from the Soviet Republic of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

who was the father of the first post-Soviet

President of Turkmenistan The president of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň prezidenti), officially the president and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, is the head of state and head of government of Turkmenistan. The president is also the supreme c ...

Saparmurat Niyazov Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; tk, Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow, in Cyrillic: Сапармырат Атаевич Ныязов (19 February 1940 – 21 December 2006), also known as Turkmenbashi, was a Turkmen politician who rule ...

(commonly known as "Türkmenbaşy"). He was also a school teacher and a financial officer.

Biography

According to the official version of his biography, he was born in the village of Kipchak, Ashkhabad District (later the Derweze District of

Ahal Region Ahal Region ( tk, Ahal welaýaty; from fa, آخال, Axāl) is one of five provinces of Turkmenistan. It is in the south-center of the country, bordering Iran and Afghanistan along the Kopet Dag Range. Its area is and population 939,700 (2005 ...

, and subsequently annexed by the city of

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies ...

) in 1912. He was the eldest son in the family. He was fluent in Arabic, Russian, and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he served in the Turkmen cavalry regiment in the village of Keshi (now a neighborhood of Ashgabat). He took an active part in the work to eliminate the illiteracy of the population. In 1932, he successfully completed a three-month training course for elementary school teachers at the Ashgabat Pedagogical Institute, and was sent to the

Kerki District Kerki District (formerly Atamyrat District) (1999–2017) is a district of Lebap Province in Turkmenistan. The administrative center of the district is the town of Kerki Kerki is a city in and capital of Kerki District, Lebap Province, ...

(in what is now the

Lebap Region Lebap Region ( tk, Lebap welaýaty/Лебап велаяты from the Persian ''Lab-e āb'') is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya. Its capital is ...

), where for three years he worked as an elementary school teacher in the villages of Chekir and Dashlyk. After this, he entered the Ashgabat Accounting and Finance College for the Department of Planning and Accounting. He actively participated in public life, being elected as a delegate to the Republican Student Conference. After graduating from college with honors, he worked in the financial authorities of

Kerki Kerki is a city in and capital of Kerki District, Lebap Province, Turkmenistan. It was formerly known as Zamm and, between 1999 and 2017, as Atamyrat. Geography It is situated on a plain on the left bank of the Amu Darya river. Nearby towns a ...

, Tashauz, Bäherden, Geoktepe, Ashgabat. In 1937, he married

Gurbansoltan Eje Gurbansoltan Eje ("Mother of Gurbansoltan"; born 1913 in Gypjak, Turkmenistan; died 6 October 1948 in Ashgabat during the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake) was the mother of Turkmenistan's first post-Soviet president Saparmurat Niyazov ("Türkmenbaşy"). ...

, after which they moved to Ashgabat, where they bought a small house. Three sons appeared in the family: Niyazmurat (1938–1948), Saparmurat (1940–2006) and Muhammetmyrat (1942–1948).

Death

In August 1941, he volunteered to go to the front during

as part of the 535th Rifle Regiment of the 127th Rifle Division, later to become the 2nd Guards Rifle Division. He was killed on 24 December 1942 during the

Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of t ...

in which German forces tried to invade the USSR through the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

. He was killed near an Ossetian village after being surrounded by the enemy and was shot by troops of the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. He was buried in a mass grave in the village of Haznidon in North Ossetia. According to the fragmentary information from surviving soldiers, the unit in which he served was surrounded, with the soldiers, engaging in a long night raid. In 2004, the earth from the grave was moved to his hometown of Kipchak. His wife, two of his sons, and other members of his family were killed in the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake six years later that caused extreme damage to the city. He was part of the

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

of his surviving son later.

Honours

Several places and institutions were named after Niyazov as well as honor him: *In 2000, he and other veterans were posthumously made Heroes of Turkmenistan. Just 6 years prior, he was awarded the honorary title of

Hero of Turkmenistan The title Hero of Turkmenistan () is a state award of Turkmenistan. It was first awarded in 1992 and was awarded for service to the implementation of domestic and foreign policy. History The title of Hero of Turkmenistan was established by the L ...

. *He was also made a recipient of the Ukrainian

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise ( uk, Орден князя Ярослава Мудрого) is an award of Ukraine. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, ...

. *2004 was declared by the Assembly of Turkmenistan to be the "Year of Atamyrat Niyazov". *Atamyrat Niyazov Avenue is located in the capital of

and has buildings such as Halk Bank on it. * ''Atamyrat'' was the former name given for the city of

. In 1999, the city was renamed Atamyrat by president Niyazov. In November 2017 the name was changed back to Kerki by president

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957), also known as Arkadag (Cyrillic: Аркадаг, "protector"), is a Turkmen politician who served as the second president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022. A dentist by profes ...

. *A division of the

Turkmen Ground Forces The Turkmen Ground Forces () is the army branch of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan. The ground forces include the 2nd, 3rd, 11th, and 22nd Motor Rifle Divisions as well as smaller units consisting of various types of troops. History The b ...

was renamed in 2004 after Niyazov. Today the 22nd Motor Rifle Division "Atamyrat Niyazov" holds his name. *A secondary school in the capital is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niyazov, Atamyrat 1942 deaths People from Ahal Region People from Transcaspian Oblast 20th-century Turkmenistan people Saparmurat Niyazov Soviet Army personnel Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class Deaths by firearm in the Soviet Union 1912 births