The article by Fuat Ashrafovich Ganiev (1930-2016) systematizes information about Naki Isanbet’s multifaceted work (1899-1992) in the field of Tatar philology. Special attention is paid to the analysis of Naki Isanbet’s contribution to Tatar linguistics and Turkology. So, N. Isanbet proved himself as a talented scientist-philologist.

F. Ganiev was a linguist who “left a deep mark in the history of Tatar grammar, lexicology and lexicography, who devoted his life to the study of the problems of the Turkic and Tatar linguistics and gained recognition not only in Tatarstan, but also abroad, who created his scientific school, which made a lot of efforts to train highly qualified specialists and organize scientific activities”. The author of the article was bom on August 1, 1930 in the village ofNasibash of the Salavat District in Bashkortostan. His grandfather Shayakhmet was Taiba abistai’s brother, the mother of the famous writer and scientist Naki Isanbet.

The outstanding folklorist, linguist, Turkologist, teacher and writer Naki Isanbet was most concerned about the fate of our language, national culture and literature, about our Tatar people’s existence in the future world along with many other nationalities on Earth. The famous scientist believed that people, who do not have their own national language, education, who do not know their native language, have ceased to be people in this world, as they are the most unhappy, uncultured and uneducated of all. Isanbet began his multifaceted activity in Bashkortostan with writing an alphabet textbook for Tatar and Bashkortostan schools using the name “Yash Buyn” (“Young Generation”). Together with Dauyt Yultyi, the methodologist published a volumetric textbook on literature for secondary schools. Naki Isanbet was a scientist who actively participated in discussions concerning the Latin script. At first, he belonged to the “Latinists”, later to the “Arabists.” The project of the New Tatar spelling was set up by Kh. Kurbatov in 1955. It was presented to the general public in 1958. Naki Isanbet published his thoughts regarding this project in the newspaper “Sovet Tatarstany” (The Soviet Tatarstan). In the first volume of “Tatar Grammar”, published in 1995, 2015, this article is not mentioned. His serious work was written in the form of a program; although underestimated, it has not lost its relevance to this day. In 1958, the Government Commission did not think the project of new spelling was ready for implementation due to its shortcomings. This decision was also influenced by the position of Naki Isanbet. Scholars recognize that in modem Tatar spelling there are a number of problems and contradictions as far as the correct writing of certain groups of Tatar words goes. We have decided to reproduce this article by Naki Isanbet, hoping that the opinion of the influential scholar in this matter will be useful today.

The article evaluates the contribution that the famous Tatar scientist, poet, playwright, folklorist, translator and publicist Naki Isanbet made to the development of Tatar drama. N. Isanbet began his literary career in drama in the early 20th century and was active in his creative work until the 1970s. More than thirty plays, that fell from his pen, were staged during this period. The writer’s plays reflect important events of the era, instructive pages of history, so they are perceived as a literary chronicle of the Tatar people’s history. This work defines the stages of N. Isanbet’s creative development and their features. The writer became famous as a playwright in the 1920s. In the plays written during these years, he exposed the phenomenon of bureaucracy and manifested foresight of what was to come, along with a mocking description of the lives of those who were formerly rich and belonged to the clergy, those who got lost in the era of revolutions. In the subsequent period, there was a sharp twist in N. Isanbet’s work, he turned to literary images of historical figures and the rich heritage accumulated in oral folk art. Remaining faithful to them throughout his creative life, the writer posed important social questions to his readers-viewers, so his plays occupied a worthy place in the repertoire of theatres. Thus, he managed to create “the Naki Isanbet Theatre”. Many of his plays have been staged in modem Tatar theatres, which allows us to conclude that having successfully passed the test of time, the writer’s works are still relevant.

Tatar folklore is a spiritual gem that has been created by the people over the centuries and passed down from generation to generation. Folkloristics is a rich, complex, deep and important area of Tatar science, which, being of exceptional significance, makes up the spiritual foundation of our time. There are not many talented Tatar scholars who devoted their lives to the study of the Tatar people’s unique heritage, revealing the exciting scientific secrets in this area. One of the rare personalities, who made significant contributions to the popularization of the Tatars’ heritage and to the preservation of national folklore monuments, is the Tatar writer, folklorist and scholar Nakie Isanbet (Nakie Sirazievich Isanbet). Our article describes the work of this outstanding figure who found folklore works from the depths of centuries, processed them according to the current requirements of science and, having determined their value, passed them to future generations. From the perspective of national and cultural values, the article gives a scientific assessment of N. Isanbet’s work in the field of Tatar folklore and folklorism, highlights the significance of the provided materials, which greatly contributed to the study of various Tatar folk art genres, and defines the prospects on conducting further research in this direction.

The article analyzes Naki Isanbet’s memoirs about Shaikhzada Babich. The work was completed on the eve of the 50^th anniversary of the October Revolution. Due to censorship, the author managed to partially publish it only in 1967-1968. This study is based on the full version of Naki Isanbet’s memoirs, introduced into scientific circulation in 2023. The article provides a detailed historical commentary on the events, described in this work. We prove that the writer managed to realistically and reliably reflect the conflicts between various armed forces in the region. Based on the analysis of the character system, the article shows that in Naqi Isanbet’s work, historicism is the most important aesthetic principle used to organize the characters’ “construction”.

The article reviews the works of musicologist Yulduz Isanbet. She distinguished herself in various fields of musicology related to Tatar culture. Yulduz Isanbet was engaged in scientific, pedagogical and musical-educational work. All of these are given varying degrees of attention in this article. We mainly focus on her large-scale publications, considering them in the context of musical culture and education in Tatarstan from the 1970s and up to 2021. The works are systematized according to their content, structure and genre, revealing their novelty and significance in Tatarstan musicology. The analysis of Yulduz Isanbet’s works and the experience of the author’s communication with her teacher during the years of her study at the Kazan State Conservatory made it possible to formulate the principles underlying the musicologist’s scientific work. The article highlights the influence her father, the writer and folklorist Naki Isanbet, had on the development of these scientific principles. We define further ways of searching and studying Yulduz Isanbet’s heritage and make a suggestion to publish unpublished works by Yulduz and Naki Isanbet, indicating their storage locations. We also suggest publishing materials of the source studies, devoted to individual works of the musicologist.

The article presents some facts from the creative biography of the composer Anton Aleksandrovich Eichenwald (1875-1952), shedding light on his interest in Tatar folk music. During the analysis, a number of factual errors were revealed in certain research works concerning the information about the ethnographer’s expeditionary activities.

Isanbet Prazat Nakievich (1927-2001) was an actor, director, People’s Artist of the TASSR (1981), Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1986). The article systematizes information about him as a talented artist. Our analysis is based on his 57 drawings, grotesques (from French - caricatures) and caricatures. In these drawings, Prazat Isanbet depicted the main events of theatrical life. This is a kind of visual drama, scenes of authentic theatrical life. To convey the characteristic features of his images, he relied on a geometric shape with stable associations related to the inner world of the portrayed people.

Nasyrov Gabdelkayum Gabdennasyrovich (Kayum Nasyri) (2 [14] February 1825 - 20 August 1902) was an outstanding scientist, writer and educator of the 19^th century, the author of more than 60 scientific and translated works on philology, folklore, pedagogy, fiction, mathematics, history, geography, astronomy, etc., the creator of the first textbooks in the Tatar language on various branches of science. He was a graduate of the madrasah at the Fifth Cathedral Mosque (1841-1855), a teacher of the Tatar language at the Kazan Theological School (Kazan Theological Semi-nary, 1855-1871), the founder and teacher of the Russian-Tatar school for boys in Kazan (1871-1876), a full member of the Society of Archeology, History and Ethnography at Kazan University (1885-1902). The central street of Kazan, located in the historical district of Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda, is named after K. Nasyri. In 1995, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan established the K. Nasyri Prize, which is awarded in the field of education and the implementation of the pedagogical heritage of the scientist-educator. In 2014, the Scientific and Educational Center “Kayum Nasyri Institute” was established on the basis of Kazan Federal University. In 2025, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative silver coin dedicated to K. Nasyri.

Shakirov Ilgam (Ilham) Gilmutdinovich (1935-2019) was an outstanding Tatar singer (baritone) and artistic director of the Tatar State Philharmonic (1992-2012). He was a People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1983), People’s Artist of the TASSR (1969) and People’s Artist of the Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1981).

In 1970, he became a Laureate of the State Prize named after G. Tukay and an Honorary citizen of the Sarmanovsky District (2015) and Kazan (2006).

In 2003, the Avenue of Stars was opened in Kazan on the central Bauman Street, and one of the stars was named after Ilham Shakirov.

Karimullin Abrar Gibadullovich (1925-2000) was an academician, the first researcher of the Tatar book history, a bibliographer, Doctor of Philology, full member of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, Honored Scientist of the TASSR, winner of the State Prize of the Republic of Tatarstan named after G. Tukay, winner of the Kul Gali International Prize, holder of high titles in various nominations in many countries of the world. He participated in the Great Patriotic War.

Abrar Karimullin graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Kazan State University named after V. I. Lenin (1953). In 1953-1964 he was deputy director for research at the Scientific Library of Kazan State University; in 1964-1992 he worked at the G. Ibragimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic ofTatarstan.

In 1991-1992, A. Karimullin was a scientific consultant of the National Library of Tatarstan.

He conducted research on the history of the Tatar people, his major works were devoted to the history of the emergence and development of the Tatar printed book, philology and bibliography.

The article is a review of a popular science collection about the legendary Tatar singer Ilham Shakirov. We evaluate biographical, literary and popular science materials presented in the book.

The article examines the theatre scholar I. Ilyalova’s book, dedicated to the performances of Marsel Salimzhanov and published on the 90th anniversary of the outstanding director. It highlights the importance and timeliness of Marsel Salimzhanov’s work. He was the leader of the national theatre art for 36 years, directing performances of the famous theatre named after G. Kamal, and created dozens of performances, many of them are in the golden fund of Tatar culture. The book contains numerous articles and reviews by various authors, published in the periodical press of that time, and excerpts from popular science monographs. Thus, it presents different points of view, pluralism of opinions and a broad historical context. At the same time, the strictly chronological principle of organizing the material helps to present the legacy of the director in its entity and trace his creative evolution.