Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nazarbayev was born in Chemolgan, a rural town near Almaty, when Kazakhstan was one of the republics of the Soviet Union, to parents Ábish Nazarbayev (1903–1970) and Aljan Nazarbayeva (1910–1978).

His father Ábish was a poor labourer who worked for a wealthy local family until Soviet rule confiscated the family's farmland in the 1930s during Joseph Stalin's collectivization policy.

Following this, his father took the family to the mountains to live out a nomadic existence.

His family's religious tradition was Sunni Islam.

Äbish avoided compulsory military service due to a withered arm he had sustained when putting out a fire.

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев; Nūrsūltan Äbışūly Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, from the country’s independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022.

At the end of World War II, the family returned to the village of Chemolgan where in 1948, Nazarbayev began attending school and being taught the Russian language; while living with his paternal uncle, as his parents had not owned dwelling in the place for a brief period.

Nazarbayev later himself chose to settle in the upper part of Chemolgan where mainly ethnic Russians lived, in order to master Russian while communicating with them.

Despite performing well at school, by the time Nazarbayev was in 10th grade, all the classes in the same grade were called off due to the shortage of students and as a result in 1957, he was sent to a boarding school named after Abai Qunanbaiuly in Kaskelen.

During that time, Nazarbayev's father, Äbish, wished to create favourable conditions towards his son for studying and living as well as to potentially avoid bad influence from peers by renting himself an apartment for Nazarbayev in the village.

After leaving school, Nazarbayev took up a one-year, government-funded scholarship at the Karaganda Steel Mill in Temirtau.

He also spent time training at a steel plant in Dniprodzerzhynsk, and therefore was away from Temirtau when riots broke out there over working conditions.

By the age of 20, he was earning a relatively good wage doing "incredibly heavy and dangerous work" in the blast furnace.

Nazarbayev began his political career in 1962, joining the Communist Party of the Soviet Union while working as a factory steel worker.

He held prominent positions within the party and in 1984, he was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Kazakh SSR by Dinmukhamed Kunaev.

Nazarbayev became the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in 1989.

In 1990, he was elected as Kazakhstan's first president by the Supreme Soviet.

Nazarbayev played a crucial role in opposing the 1991 coup d'état attempt by Soviet hardliners, which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Nazarbayev ruled an authoritarian regime in Kazakhstan, where a pervasive cult of personality surrounded him, as human rights abuses were severe, dissent was suppressed, and elections were not free and fair.

In the country's first direct presidential election, held in 1991, he appeared alone on the ballot with no opposing candidates and secured an overwhelming 98% of the vote.

In 1995, he governed the country in a rule by decree, as the Supreme Council was absent.

In 1999, Nazarbayev was re-elected second time for what was officially recognized as his first term, as the Constitutional Council's ruling in 2000 allowed him to run again in 2005 under the provisions of a 1995 amendment.

In April of that year, a presidential term referendum extended his presidency until 2000.

Additionally, in August, constitutional referendum took place, significantly bolstering the executive powers through the introduction of a new draft for the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

These actions consolidated Nazarbayev's authority and control over the country's political landscape.

During Nazarbayev's presidency, Kazakhstan experienced a rapid economic growth in 2000s, driven by high oil prices and market-oriented reforms, establishing the country as a prominent economic power in Central Asia.

Foreign investments in key industries fueled modernization and infrastructure development.

Additionally, Nazarbayev's foreign policy approach emphasized maintaining good relations with major powers and actively integrating Kazakhstan into regional organizations such as the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States and globally by becoming a member of the World Trade Organization.

Moreover, he played a crucial role in nuclear disarmament efforts by renouncing the country's inherited nuclear arsenal and closing the Semipalatinsk Test Site.

Despite these accomplishments, challenges persisted due to widespread corruption and nepotism linked to Nazarbayev and his family, which hindered transparency and accountability, posing significant obstacles to Kazakhstan's development.

Later, exploiting a 2007 amendment that removed term limits exclusively for Nazarbayev, he secured re-election in 2011 and 2015, serving his fourth and fifth terms as president.

In addition, Nazarbayev's tenure also confronted a series of economic challenges, including the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the 2010s oil glut, and the Russo-Ukrainian War, in which these events contributed to the devaluation of the Kazakhstani tenge and triggered periods of inflation.

He held the special title of Elbasy (meaning "Leader of the Nation", ) from 2010 to 2022.

Nazarbayev was one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, excluding chairmanship in the Security Council after the end of his presidency.

He has often been referred to as a dictator due to usurpation of power and autocratic rule.

In 2018, the Parliament approved a constitutional amendment allowing Nazarbayev to lead the Security Council for life.

In March 2019, he resigned from the presidency amid anti-government rallies and was succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a close ally of Nazarbayev, who overwhelmingly won the following snap presidential election in June 2019.

He was immune from any criminal prosecution until being stripped from privileges following the 2022 constitutional referendum and continued to serve as the chairman of both the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan and Nur Otan until 2021.

Nazarbayev also was the chairman of the Security Council until his dismissal from that post in response to the 2022 unrest.

He was an honorary member of the Senate of Kazakhstan and the member of the Constitutional Council until this title was stripped in 2023.