Abstract:
The article analyzes the contribution of the Kazakh historian A.L. Zakharenko to the study of the
history of Siberia in the second half of the 19th century and the socio-historical connections between
Kazakhstan, Siberia, the Volga region, and the Urals through the use of the method of intellectual biography.
Siberia in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries underwent socio-political changes in which a new
category of people – “raznochintsy” – played a noticeable role. They united in organizations such as “Siberian
community” and formed the socio-political movement of «oblastnichesvo». Kazakhstan in this period, due to
its geographical and historical circumstances, was closely linked to Siberia. In the second half of the
19th century, the formation of the national Kazakh intelligentsia was taking place, which had close cultural
and educational ties with the Siberian oblastnichesvo, especially with its outstanding representatives such as
G.N. Potanin and N.M. Yadrintsev. The study of Siberian oblastnichesvo, the life and activities of individual
oblastniki, and the cultural and socio-political interconnection between Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Urals, and
the Volga region is particularly significant for the historical science of Kazakhstan. Zakharenko is one of the
first Kazakh scientists who has achieved significant results in the field of Siberian studies.
