On May 26, 2023, the Institute of History and Ethnology named after Ch. Valikhanov (hereinafter referred to as the Institute) of the Science Committee of the MNVO RK held the Republican Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous scientist-historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan, laureate of the Ch.Ch. Valikhanov Toltay Balakayevich Balakaev on the topic: «National history and historians of Kazakhstan in the 20th century: problems, scientific heritage and modern approaches».

The conference was attended by relatives of the hero of the day – Balakayeva G.T., Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Informatics of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, foreign colleagues – Nazemtseva Elena Nikolaevna, Doctor of History, Leading Researcher of the Department Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Mark Junge, Doctor of History, Senior Researcher at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Universität Erlangen Nürnberg), Yarkov Alexander Pavlovich, Doctor of History, Professor of the Department of «History of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages» Tyumen State University, as well as media representatives. Historians of the Institute delivered welcoming speeches to the participants of the conference, reports on the program.

The conference considered the contribution of TOLTAY BALAKAYEV to the study of the national history of the twentieth century, the role and place of Kazakhstan in the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War from a new methodological point of view, the issues of participation of the national military formations of the Kazakhs on the fronts of the war, agrarian history, the development of culture and education.

Abylkhozhin Zhulduzbek Bekmukhamedovich shared his memories of the former director of the Institute T.B. Balakaev:

«T.B. Balakaev started working at our Institute of History and Ethnology named after Ch.Ch. Valikhanov in 1956, before that he worked at the Institute of Party History (branch). When he came, he became a scientific secretary, the Head of the department. Since 1985, Deputy Director of our Institute for Science.

His works are wonderful! He was mainly interested in the history of the Great Patriotic War of Kazakhstan. A remarkable monograph was published in 1971 under the title: «Collective farm peasantry of Kazakhstan during the Second World War».

Unfortunately, many young researchers now ignore the works of our predecessors. There are wonderful works there. As a person, he was very humble and deeply decent.

Front-line soldier. He never talked about the war. It is no coincidence that our Institute holds this conference, and although some researchers from the Russian Federation and the Federal Republic of Germany are present here…»