Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2003), Deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan (since 2007).
Born on April 15, 1947 in the Lebyazhinsky district of the Pavlodar region. In 1974-1977 studied in graduate school at the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics of Kazakh State University named after S.M. Kirov. In 1978 he defended his candidate's dissertation, in 1994 - his doctorate on the topic “The Problem of God and Man in Abai’s Worldview (hermeneutic analysis)” in the specialty “religious studies, theology.”
In 2001-2007 – Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. The philosophy of life, political worldview, and scientific credo of academician Garifolla Yesim are distinguished by the inextricable unity of theory and practice, vitality and focus on solving pressing issues of social development, preserving spiritual values, choosing ways and methods of educating generations in the spirit of patriotism and national identity. The range of topics that the philosopher and writer Garifolla Yesim reflects on is very extensive. His name is widely known to the scientific community for his numerous publications on problems of a strictly philosophical nature, affecting the ontological and epistemological aspects of human existence, problems of consciousness, the meaning of life and responsibility, philosophy of culture, philosophical anthropology, religion, the history of Turkic and Kazakh philosophy. At the same time, high erudition, breadth of views, depth of thought, methodological and scientific novelty are a characteristic feature of all the works of Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan G. Yesim.
In the republic, Garifollu Yesim is known as a prominent Abai scholar, as well as a researcher of the works of Shakarim and Yassawi. In the year of celebrating the 150th anniversary of the most remarkable poet, thinker, philosopher of the great Kazakh Steppe Abai Kunanbayev, 50 programs were prepared on Kazakh radio and television, and a series of articles (45 in total) entitled “Philosophy of Words” was published on the pages of the republican newspaper “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda”. the path to Abai." Radio conversations and a series of publications immediately attracted attention with their originality and non-standard approach to the interpretation of Abai’s famous work “The Book of Words” (“Kara Sozder”) and caused a wide public response. Garifolla Yesim's discovery is the application of hermeneutic analysis to the Book of Words. The hermeneutic approach is the first experience of such a study of the work of the great poet. Thanks to the theory of understanding and interpretation, the invisible deep layers of Abai’s philosophical wisdom, the greatness, strength, and power of his thoughts were revealed to readers. Kazakh philosophy is a metaphorical philosophy; accordingly, it is distinguished by its style, genre, methodology, and research technology. Garifolla Yesim designated his quest as “the path to Abai,” thereby emphasizing that Abai’s philosophical discourse is the path of philosophical reflection, self-knowledge and self-awareness of a person. Abai cannot simply be read and put aside. Everyone who thoughtfully reads Abai is faced with the most pressing problems of human existence. And every time we re-read it, we will discover for ourselves a new meaning and significance of his “Words”. Conceptually, Professor Garifolla Yesim's research can be divided into several directions. One of them is the study and development of the history and theory of Kazakh philosophy in the context of world social thought. The books “Hakim Abay” (Kazakh edition - 1994, Russian - 1995) present the concept of cultural and historical space, on the basis of which the typology and stages of formation of the Turkic worldview are developed, its transformation into Kazakh philosophy, into the Kazakh mentality, starting with Anacharsis - Saka thinker of the 6th century BC. and to Abai, a thinker of the 19th century. The paradigms of Kazakh philosophy in the context of sociocultural changes in modern society - one of the dominant research strategies of Garifolla Yesim - are presented in 11 books in the series “Sana Bolmysy” (“Being of Consciousness”), published in 1994-2008.
The subject of Garifolla Yesim's scientific research is the theory of civilization, in particular, ethnic (national) civilization. The undoubted merit of Garifolla Yesim is that he was the first to introduce the concept of “Kazakh civilization” into scientific circulation. He considers civilization as a specific way of life for a separate ethnic group, shows the place and role of Kazakhstan in the new civilizational world, and outlines the vectors for the further spiritual development of the Kazakh people in the context of globalization. The substantive elements of the concept of “Kazakh civilization” are the concepts: national identity (“Eldik sana”), civilizational consciousness (“Orkenettik sana”) and spirituality.
Garifolla Yesim, as an author, constantly conducts an invisible dialogue with his readers, argues, convinces, encourages them to spiritual sublimity, to find their path in this life. The monograph “Hakim Abay”, as well as articles devoted to Shakarim and current problems in the history of Kazakh philosophy and culture, have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish and English. Under the leadership of Garifolla Yesim, 13 doctoral and 22 candidate dissertations were defended.
Winner of the S. Saduakasov Prize of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan, the Republican Prize of the Abai Foundation (first prize) and the Yassawi Prize of the International Foundation "KATEV" (first prize). Awarded the badge “For Merit in the Development of Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan” (2003) and the Order “Kurmet” (2006).