Dear readers, colleagues, and friends!

Born on March 15, 1931, in Shalkar city, Aktobe region, a historical figure and a descendant of the glorious national heroes Kotibar (fifth generation) and Eset (fourth generation) of the Basen line, writer, journalist, and Honorary Citizen of Shalkar district and Shalkar city, TAUMAN ALYBAYULY TOREKHANOV passed away on June 21, 2026, at the age of 95.

This is a grief and loss for his family, the people of his native land, his fellow journalists, and all his readers. Tauman Alybayuly's name will now be preserved not only as a memory of days gone by, but as an eternal sign of the long and substantial contribution he made to journalism and literature in Kazakhstan.

Journalistic career
Tauman Torekhanov served the mass media of Kazakhstan and the USSR for nearly fifty years. After graduating with honors from the Kazakh State University (now Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) in 1955, he embarked on a career in journalism, working at the Aktobe regional newspaper Zarshy, and later organizing the Kom Tany (later Shalkar) district newspaper, where he served as chief editor for 30 years until 1992. He was actively involved in the social, political, and cultural life of the district, and was recognized both as a journalist and as a public figure. He participated as a delegate in the congress of the Union of Journalists of the USSR and the congresses of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan, and was awarded the USSR Press Excellence Professional Distinction, the title of Honoured Cultural Worker of the Kazakh SSR, and numerous certificates of honor and medals. In 1988, he also contributed to the establishment of the Shalkar district historical and local lore museum.

Contributions to literature and historical research
Tauman Torekhanov was not only a journalist but also a well-known writer and historical researcher. Over his journalistic career, he published nearly four thousand sketches, reports, essays, and stories, and released dozens of books through the Atamura publishing house, including Koz Korgender Edi (Those Who Saw with Their Own Eyes), Kanmen gazylgan tagdyrlar (Bloody Tragedy in the Steppe), Dala Gerkulesi (Hercules of the Steppe), Tarihtin Kandy Izderi (Bloody Traces of History), and Tagdyrlar Taitalasy (Collision of Destinies). His works were aimed at preserving Kazakhstan's history and spiritual heritage and passing great figures and historical events on to future generations. The historical novel Dala Gerkulesi received high praise at a scientific and literary exhibition in the United States; the novel-epic Tarihtin Kandy Izderi was received with great appreciation during a meeting with the President of Kazakhstan. The author's books were donated to the Library of Congress of the United States and to major university libraries in Europe and Asia; he was invited to speak at Humboldt University in Berlin, becoming one of the first Kazakh journalists to do so.

Tauman Alybayuly was a "living legend" of his native land and a respected figure in modern journalism and Kazakh literature. His name and works will remain forever in memory.

May he rest in peace.

Almaty, 2026.