page_title: Akhmet Baitursynov
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Akhmet Baitursynov / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Akhmet Baitursynov, Kazakhstan stamp, 2005. Русский: Ахмет Байтурсынов, почтовая марка Казахстана (2005).
context_page_description: Akhmet Baitursynov was a Kazakh intellectual who worked in the fields of politics, poetry, linguistics and education.
  Baitursynov reformed the Kazakh language from the Arabic script to Latin, giving the opportunity for millions of Kazakhs living abroad to use it. In 1912, he excluded all the purely Arabic letters not used in the Kazakh language and added letters specific to the Kazakh language. The new alphabet, named Jana Emle, is still used by Kazakhs living in China, Afghanistan, and in Iran. Baitursynov also developed the basics of Kazakh and the scientific terminology for the definition of Kazakh grammar. In 1937, he was executed by a firing squad during the Great Purge.
context_section_description: To this day, Baitursynov is held in great regard in Kazakhstan, but is viewed as somewhat tragic figure, signifying the extent of the numbers of authors, poets and thinkers who have perished due to the Soviet repressions.  A museum in honor of Baitursynov was established in one of his former residences in Alma-Ata, and a number of streets were renamed in his memory across Kazakhstan. A statue of him is also to be found in the town of Kostenay. Baitursynov's work is also part of the curriculum for high school education system of Kazakhstan. Another of Baitursynov's significant accomplishments was his adaptation of Arabic script for the Kazakh alphabet.
caption: A 2005 Kazakhstan stamp of Baitursynov.
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