Mayram Duishenovna Akaeva (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Майрам Дуйшеновна Акаева) is the wife of the ousted former

President of Kyrgyzstan The president of Kyrgyzstan, officially the president of the Kyrgyz Republic (russian: Президент Киргизской Республики; ky, Кыргыз Республикасынын Президенти), is the head of state an ...

Askar Akayev Askar Akayevich Akayev ( ky, Аскар Акаевич (Акай уулу) Акаев, translit=Askar Akayevich (Akay Uulu) Akayev ; ; born 10 November 1944) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as President of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 until being ov ...

and

First Lady of Kyrgyzstan First Lady ( ky, биринчи айым, birinçi ayım) or First Gentleman of Kyrgyzstan is the title attributed to the spouse of the president of Kyrgyzstan. The current first lady is Aigul Japarova, the wife of President Sadyr Japarov. To date ...

from 1990 to 2005.

Early life and career

Akayeva was born in the village of Shumkar in the Talas District of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

on November 7, 1947. She first met her future husband in 1969 at a house party for fellow college students. At the time, he was a professor at the Leningrad Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics (ITMO), whence he had graduated two years earlier with an honors degree in mathematics, engineering and computer science. One year later they married and had their first two children in

Leningrad 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 ...

. From 1974-1977, she was a lecturer at ITMO, before returning to the

Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...

where her kids would spend the rest of their childhood, and where Akayeva continued her career as an associate professor at the

Frunze Polytechnic Institute The Kyrgyz State Technical University ( ky, Кыргыз мамлекеттик техникалык университети, Kyrgyz mamlekettik tekhnikalyk universiteti; russian: Кыргызский государственный техниче ...

. Following the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, she taught at the

Kyrgyz National University The Kyrgyz National University, named after Jusup Balasagyn ( ky, Жусуп Баласагын атындагы Кыргыз Улуттук Университети; russian: Киргизский национальный университет ...

in the capital. At around this time, her husband, who was the leader of the Kyrgyz SSR at the time, was elected to the newly formed post of

President of the Kyrgyz Republic The president of Kyrgyzstan, officially the president of the Kyrgyz Republic (russian: Президент Киргизской Республики; ky, Кыргыз Республикасынын Президенти), is the head of state an ...

. As a result, Akayeva automatically became the original

. She became the first spouse of a leader of a post-Soviet states to publish her memoirs, publishing the book "Hope Has No Night". During her tenure as first lady, she held the post of President of the Meerim International Charitable Foundation for the Support of Motherhood and Childhood, a position she held until 2005. That year, as the events of the

Tulip Revolution The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution (russian: Тюльпановая революция; ky, Жоогазын революциясы) led to President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev's fall from power. The revolution began after parliame ...

were unfolding in

, Akayeva and her entire family, including President Akayev, were exiled to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, and then more permanently to

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , American English, US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia. The city stands on t ...

, where they reside today.

Personal life

Akayeva and her husband have four children together:

Bermet Bermet (Бермет in Serbian Cyrillic) is a dessert wine that is a specialty of northern Serbia's Fruška Gora wine region, in the Vojvodina province. It was originally intended for medicinal purposes (similar to the original digestifs), but l ...

, Aidar, Saadat, and Ilym. Akayeva herself has two sisters, both of whom worked in government. Besides Kyrgyz, she is also fluent in Russian. In October 2003, she was awarded the

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...

Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

for her work in supporting mothers of children. Five years later, she was elected in Moscow as a member of the Academy of Noble Affairs in Honor of the Fatherland and the Academy of Security, Defense and Law and Order Issues of the Russian Federation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akayeva, Mayram Living people 1947 births First ladies and gentlemen of Kyrgyzstan 20th-century Kyrgyzstani women politicians 20th-century Kyrgyzstani politicians Ethnic Kyrgyz people (individuals) Academic staff of Kyrgyz National University Academic staff of Kyrgyz Technical University 21st-century Kyrgyzstani women politicians 21st-century Kyrgyzstani politicians