Ismail bey Gasprinsky (also written as Gaspirali and Gasprinski: crh, İsmail Gaspıralı, russian: Исмаи́л Гаспри́нский ''Ismail Gasprinskii''; – ) was a
Crimean Tatar intellectual, educator, publisher and
Pan-Turkist
Pan-Turkism is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), with its aim bei ...
politician who inspired the
Jadid
The Jadids were Muslim modernist reformers within the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. They normally referred to themselves by the Turkic terms ''Taraqqiparvarlar'' ('progressives'), ''Ziyalilar'' ('intellectuals') or simpl ...
ist movement in
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
. He was one of the first
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
intellectuals in the
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. ...
, who realized the need for education and cultural reform and modernization of the Turkic and Islamic communities. His last name comes from the town of
Gaspra
Gaspra ( uk, Гаспра, officially transliterated Haspra; russian: Гаспра; crh, Gaspra, from Greek hàspra, άσπρα, white) is a spa town, an urban-type settlement in Yalta Municipality in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. It is loc ...
in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
.
Biography
Ismail communicated his ideas mainly through the newspaper ''Tercüman'' he founded in 1883,
which existed till 1918. In his publications he called for unity and solidarity among the Turkic peoples and advocated their modernization through Europeanization. Ismail believed that the only way for modernization was through education. He widely advocated for the introduction of an education reform,
and criticized the traditional education system in Muslim schools focusing much on religion and devised a new method of teaching children how to read effectively in their
mother tongue
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
and introduced curricular reforms.
He supported the creation of a common literary language
and therefore developed a "pan-Turkic" language, a simplified form of Turkish omitting words imported from
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, which was intended to be understood by "the boatman of the Bosphorus and by the camel driver of Kashgar." The ''Tercümen'' had suscriptors in the Caucasus, amongst Muslims in the Russian Empire,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
In his 1881 book ''Russian Muslims'' he wrote:
"Our ignorance is the main reason for our backward condition. We have no access at all to what has been discovered and to what is going on in Europe. We must be able to read in order to overcome our isolation; we must learn European ideas from European sources. We must introduce into our primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
and secondary schools
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
subjects that will permit our pupils to have such access".
Ismail also initiated a new journal for women, ''
Alem-i Nisvan'' (Women's World), edited by his daughter Şefiqa, as well as a publication for children, ''Alem-i Subyan'' (World of Children). Ismail was one of the founders of Union of Muslims (''
İttifaq-i Müslimin''), created in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in January 1906 and uniting members of intelligentsia from various Muslim Turkic peoples of the Russian Empire.
He was also one of the main organizers of the first All-Russian Muslim congresses, aimed at introducing social and religious reforms among the Muslim peoples of Russia.
He inspired the movement known as
Jadidism
The Jadids were Muslim modernist reformers within the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. They normally referred to themselves by the Turkic terms ''Taraqqiparvarlar'' ('progressives'), ''Ziyalilar'' ('intellectuals') or simpl ...
. In 1912, Gasprinski visited British India.
Legacy
Ismail Gasprinskyi street exists in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
Awards
*
Order of the Medjidie
Order of the Medjidie ( ota, نشانِ مجیدی, August 29, 1852 – 1922) is a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I.
History
Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in fi ...
, 4th Class (
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
)
*
Order of the Lion and the Sun
The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun (Persian language, Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extend ...
, 3rd and 4th Class (
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
)
*
Order of the Noble Bukhara in Gold, 3rd Class (
Bukhara Emirate
The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land ...
)
* Medal of the Russian Technical Society of
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in Bronze
See also
*
Crimean Tatars
, flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg
, flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars
, image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg
, caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace
...
*
List of Crimean Tatars
A partial list of notable Crimean Tatars, in alphabetical order:
Civil rights activists
* Reşat Amet – murdered activist
* Mustafa Dzhemilev – leader of the Mejlis
* Emir-Usein Kuku – human rights defender
* Musa Mamut – committed ...
*
Jadids
The Jadids were Muslim modernist reformers within the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. They normally referred to themselves by the Turkic terms ''Taraqqiparvarlar'' ('progressives'), ''Ziyalilar'' ('intellectuals') or simpl ...
*
Şefiqa Gaspıralı
Sources
*Kirimli, H. (1993). The "Young Tatar" Movement in the Crimea, 1905-1909. Cahiers Du Monde Russe Et Soviétique, 34(4), 529-560.
*
References
External links
*
Essays on life and activity of İsmail GaspıralıPresented by the International Committee for Crimea, Washington, D.C.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasprinski, Ismail
1851 births
1914 deaths
People from Bakhchysarai Raion
People from Yaltinsky Uyezd
Crimean Tatar writers
Crimean Tatar politicians
Pan-Turkists
Jadids
Islam in Russia
University of Paris alumni