A gift from an American historian to the Farabi Library

Over the course of a year, from August 2024 to August 2025, Professor G.S. Sultangaliyeva, Director of the Research Center for the History and Culture of Central Eurasia at the Faculty of History of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Doctor of Historical Sciences, coordinated the donation of books from the personal library of the late American historian Seymour Becker (1934–2020) to the Scientific Library of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Seymour Becker is internationally recognized as a distinguished scholar specializing in the social history of Central Asia, the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union. A graduate of Harvard University, he taught Russian and European history for more than forty years at Rutgers University, one of the oldest universities in the United States and consistently ranked among the world's leading universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Professor Becker is regarded as one of the pioneers in the study of Russia as an empire. His landmark monograph, Russia in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva under Tsarist and Bolshevik Rule, 1865–1924, remains a classic in the field. Rather than viewing Central Asia merely as an object of Russian imperial ambitions, Becker examined the region as a complex and independent historical space, providing a detailed analysis of the motivations and mechanisms behind the expansion of Russian influence.

Recognizing the breadth of Professor Becker's scholarly interests in world history, historiography, and related disciplines, Professor G.S. Sultangaliyeva understood that his personal library would be of exceptional value to faculty members, researchers, master's students, doctoral candidates, and students in Kazakhstan. When Professor Alexander Semyonov of Amherst College proposed transferring Becker's personal collection to the Scientific Library of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, she immediately accepted the initiative. This marked the beginning of extensive correspondence with Professor Becker's son, Jeff Becker, and daughter, Susan Becker.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in New York also played a key role in the project by facilitating the transportation of the books from New York to Almaty. On 15 April, 220 titles from Professor Becker's personal library were officially added to the holdings of the university's Scientific Library.

This donation represents an event of exceptional academic significance. It opens new opportunities for research, strengthens international scholarly cooperation, and reflects the growing integration of Kazakhstani historical scholarship into the global academic community. The collection is particularly valuable because of its strong academic focus and its relevance to contemporary research in the humanities. Among the donated works are several outstanding publications, including:

• The Diary of P.A. Valuev, Minister of Internal Affairs (2 volumes, Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR Publishing House, 1961), an indispensable primary source for understanding Russian policy in Central Asia during the era of the Great Reforms;
• Terry Martin's The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923–1939 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001), which examines Soviet nationality policy as a complex nation-building project;
• Vera Tolz's Russian Academicians and the Revolution: Combining Professionalism and Politics (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997), exploring the fate of Russia's scholarly elite during the Revolution of 1917;
• Maps of the History of the USSR (Vol. 1: From Ancient Times to 1861, Moscow: Mysl, 1964; Vol. 2: Russia in the Nineteenth Century, Moscow: Gospolitizdat, 1954), invaluable resources for studying historical borders and administrative divisions; and
• Central Asia: 120 Years of Russian Rule, edited by Edward Allworth (Durham: Duke University Press, 1989), one of the earliest comprehensive Western studies of Central Asia under the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

The donated books will be incorporated into the educational process for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students enrolled in humanities and political science programs. Many volumes contain Professor Becker's personal annotations, making them valuable not only as scholarly texts but also as sources of insight into the research methods of an outstanding historian. The collection, comprising works in English and several other languages, will enable students to engage with academic literature in its original language while also contributing to the further development of cultural and academic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States.

Professor Becker's library serves as a bridge between scholarly traditions, a symbol of the continuity of knowledge, and a powerful catalyst for the advancement of historical research in Kazakhstan. The Scientific Library of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, one of the country's largest university libraries, holds approximately 2–3 million volumes, including rare collections dating from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The acceptance of this donation marks a new stage in the library's development and significantly expands its research resources.

Through this generous gift, the Scientific Library has acquired a unique collection that will benefit future generations of researchers. The donation also reinforces the status of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University as a leading research and educational institution committed to international academic cooperation, demonstrating Kazakhstan's dedication to preserving intellectual heritage and its active participation in the global scholarly community.

The university expresses its sincere gratitude to Professor Seymour Becker's children, Jeff Becker and Susan Becker, as well as to the Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in New York, for their invaluable contribution to the development of the academic environment and their support of the scholarly community.

Sania SABYR, 1st year doctoral student at the Faculty of History