Kayum Nasyri Institute Centre opens in Moscow

A Kauym Nasyri Institute education and culture centre opened at the premises of school No 1186 with Tatar studies focused curriculum on Wednesday.

Attendees at the opening ceremony were Tatarstan State Council Chair Farid Mukhametshin, Tatarstan representative in Russia Ravil Akhmetshin, Tatarstan education minister Engel Fattakhov , and other officials, as well as public activists, representation’s press secretary has said.

The ceremony began by laying flowers to a memorial sign to hero poet Musa Jalil erected in the school’s courtyard. Following the ceremony, school’s headmistress Lemma Girfanova held a brief guided tour of the school for the visitors, showing them classrooms and museums organised by the teaching staff.

Philology and Intercultural Communication Institute director Rafid Zamaletdinov opened the official part.

“The name of Kayum Nasyri is well known to every Tatar. He devoted his life to enlightenment, worked to bring the Tatar and Russian people closer together and was a polymath. We hope this project will be long. In the immediate future, the centre will begin to work to capacity, which work will be led by the school's Tatar language and literature teacher, an experience and competent man,” Radif Zamaletdinov said. The institute used foreign institutes' expertise in its work, the director explained, including that of the Goethe, Cervantes, Confucius institutes, and others.

School 1186’s director Lemma Girfanova noted the opening of the centre on the grounds of the school was a great honour to them. “We realise we have been charged with a serious responsibility. We will do our best to be equal to your trust,” she said.

Farid Mukhametshin said Kayum Nasyri had in the second half of 19th century done a lot for Tatar enlightenment and greatly contributed to the contemporary education process and history. “The idea to set up an institute named after him was first put forward by Kazan Federal University, when we were thinking about brand promotion and about the value of Tatar people’s contribution to the national culture. The network of these centres will expand in the world. It was of the utmost importance for us that it originated in Moscow, Russian capital. In his annual state-of-the-nation address, Vladimir Putin highlighted issues related to ethno-cultural upbringing in our multiethnic and multifaith country,” State Council speaker said.

“Every nation wants to keep their uniqueness, best traditions and language. By learning Tatar we get keys to the wealth of knowledge left for us by Kayum Nasyri and others great thinkers before us. Symbolically, it is done in the Year of Culture declared by Russia President,” he added.