Audiotour Zhidebai

Good afternoon, dear guest, you are greeted by the audio guide of the house-museum of Abai Kunanbaiuly!

 If you leave your words and deeds to posterity,

You will be alive even after death.

 These parting lines of Abai are dedicated to you, who are part of his creative abode.

In this house, the great Kazakh poet Abai spent the last ten years of a fruitful creative life.

Currently, the building of the house-Museum is a monument of history and culture of national significance.

Abai's father-Kunanbai Oskenbaiuly lived in Zhidebai since 1840. Kunanbai's mother - Zere, and his two wives – Ulzhan- Abai's mother, and Aigyz wintered here. Abai grew up in the caring hands of these mothers.

     When the son of Kunanbai-Ospan got married, his father left him the winter quarters and moved to the foothills of Akshoky. So the fertile land of Zhidebai passed from Kunanbai to his son Ospan. In 1894, two years after Ospan's death, Abai settled in the winter quarters. According to his project, a new house was built in 1895. Abai’s grandchildren Aubakir and Pakizat lived with him in the wintering. At one time, they were adopted by Ospan and Yerkezhan. After the death of Abai, Zhidebai passes into the hands of Aubakir.

In 1945, by the 100th anniversary of Abai, the winter quarters were reorganized into a house-museum. It was completely restored for the 125th anniversary of Abai and supplemented with a literary exposition for the 150th anniversary of the poet.

The house, according to the project of Abai, consists of two corridors, five rooms and housekeeping area for storage and fuming of meat – shoshala.

          In recreating the interior of Abai's house, Abai's housekeepers and eyewitnesses to his life and work provided invaluable assistance. Memories of Katpa and Makip Koramzhanov, Mukhtar Basheev and others have found their place in the exhibition. They help visitors to perceive Abai not only as a poet, but also as a person, to get to know his habits, character, see him in everyday life, among his family members.

          The first corridor introduces us to the atmosphere of the time in which Abai lived and created, introduces us to the history of the Zhidebai tract and the winter quarters.