Abstract
Alexander Vasilievich Vasiliev (1861–1943) was a missionary, he worked in the field of organizing education for “inorodtsy” (indigenous people) during the period of the Russian Empire. He was a Turkologist who could speak the Chuvash, Tatar, Kazakh and Arabic languages. He was Chuvash by his origin. A. Vasiliev studied at the Cheboksary Theological School in 1869-1876, then at the Kazan Theological Seminary in 1876-1882, later at the Kazan Theological Academy with a degree in anti-Muslim religion. After graduating from the Kazan Theological Academy in 1886, he taught Greek, missionary subjects, and music at the Orenburg Theological Seminary.After teaching, he works as an official. One of these positions was his work as an inspector of the Turgai region in 1889-1894. In this position, he deeply familiarized himself with the history of the spread of Russian education in the Turgai region. As a result, his historical work “Historical sketch of Russian education in the Turgai region” was published, published in 1896 in Orenburg. Under the influence of the class ideology that prevailed in the Soviet era, this study was “closed” and little known in the scientific community.This research by A. Vasiliev is a valuable historical work based on the works of N. Ilminsky, V. Grigoriev, official letters from the Orenburg administration, government documents, archival materials that were at the forefront of attracting Russian education in the Turgai region. The work contains detailed historical data on the opening of Russian-Kazakh schools in the Turgai region, teachers who worked there, students who received education. The book also contains the first information about the pedagogical activity of the teacher A. Baitursynov. This book is important for understanding the history of the spread of Russian education in the Kazakh steppe.