The First. On the 200th Anniversary of Kayum Nasyri, 0+

LOCATION

Description of exhibition

The exhibition presents Kayum Nasyri as a multifaceted individual and a pioneer in various fields of knowledge. He was an indefatigable collector of folklore, the creator of the first Tatar media, the founder and educator of the first Russian-Tatar school, a translator, and the author of textbooks and the first books for children’s reading.

The foundation of the exhibition consists of manuscripts and books by Kayum Nasyri from the Scientific Library of Kazan Federal University. Dictionaries, textbooks, and geographical maps introduce visitors to the diverse facets of this tireless genius.  Among the exhibits are the first almanacs for children’s reading (Bush Vakyt, 1867), the first Tatar encyclopaedia (Fäwakihäl Jöläsa, 1884), calendars—the first Tatar media, published for over a quarter of a century—and other original works by Kayum Nasyri on ethnography, history, religious thought, and medicine. Among his religious works, the exhibition features the manuscript of the concordance, Miftah al-Quran, —the first of its kind, a lexical reference guide to the Holy Book of Muslims.

Photographic materials and documents from the Centre of Written Heritage at the Galimdzhan Ibragimov Institute of Language, Literature, and Art of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan introduce visitors to the life of our protagonist. Reports compiled by Kayum Nasyri on his teaching at the Kazan Theological School and the Russian-Tatar School, from the collection of the Centre of Written Heritage, illustrate his organisational and pedagogical talents.

The Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve showcases several books by Kayum Nasyri: the pinnacle of his pedagogical thought (Tärbiya Kitaby, 1891), the first Tatar cookbook (Irshad al-Atbiha, 1893), and literary works that reflect the memory of Kayum Nasyri in Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan.