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"Nazarbayev" redirects here. For other uses of the name, see Nazarbayev (surname).
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Nursultan Nazarbayev
Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев
Назарбаев ЕАЭС (cropped).jpg
Nazarbayev in 2021
1st President of Kazakhstan
In office
16 December 1991 – 20 March 2019
Prime Minister
See list
Vice President Yerik Asanbayev (1991–96)
Preceded by Office established
(Himself as President of the Kazakh SSR)
Succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan
In office
21 August 1991 – 5 January 2022
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Chairman of Nur Otan
In office
1 March 1999 – 28 January 2022
Acting
See list
  • Sergey Tereshchenko
  • Amangeldı Ermegiaev
  • Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov
Deputy
See list
  • Zharmakhan Tuyakbay
  • Aleksandr Pavlov
  • Amangeldı Ermegiaev
First Deputy
See list
  • Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov
  • Adilbek Zhaksybekov
  • Darhan Kaletaev
  • Nurlan Nigmatulin
  • Bakhytzhan Sagintayev
  • Bauyrjan Baibek
  • Askar Myrzakhmetov
  • Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed
  • Mäulen Äşimbaev
  • Bauyrjan Baibek
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Chairman of the Assembly of People
In office
1 March 1995 – 28 April 2021
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Honorary Chairman of the Assembly of People
In office
28 April 2021 – 5 January 2022
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Office abolished
Honorary Chairman of the Organization of Turkic States
In office
25 April 2019 – present
Personal details
Born
Nursultan Äbishulych Nazarbayev

(1940-07-06) 6 July 1940 (age 84)
Chemolgan, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Political party Amanat (since 1999)
Other political
affiliations		 Communist (1962–1991)
Independent (1991–1999)
Spouse
Sara Konakayeva
​
(m. 1962)​
Children Dariga
Dinara
Aliya
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  Soviet Union
 Kazakhstan
Branch/service Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Years of service 1991–2019
Rank Kazakhstan-Army-OF-10-01 (horizantal).svg
Supreme Commander
Central institution membership
2019–present: Honorary Chairman, Organization of Turkic States
2021–2022: Honorary Chairman, Assembly of People of Kazakhstan
2019–2023: Honorary Member, Senate of Kazakhstan
2019–2023: Member, Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan
1999–2022: Chairman, Nur Otan
1995–2021: Chairman, Assembly of People of Kazakhstan
1991–2022: Chairman, Security Council of Kazakhstan
1989–1991: Member, 17th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan
1986–1990: Full member, 27th & 28th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1979–1984: Member, 14th & 15th Secretariat of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Russian: Нурсултан Абишевич Назарбаев; Kazakh: Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbışūly Nazarbaev, pronounced [nʊɾsʊɫˈtɑn æbɪ̞ɕʊˈlɯ nɑzɑɾˈbɑjev]; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, from the country’s independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022.

Nazarbayev was one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, excluding chairmanship in the Security Council after the end of his presidency. He has often been referred to as a dictator due to usurpation of power and autocratic rule.

Early life and career

Nazarbayev was born in Chemolgan, a rural town near Almaty, when Kazakhstan was one of the republics of the Soviet Union, to parents Ábish Nazarbayev (1903–1971) and Aljan Nazarbayeva (1910–1977). His father Ábish was a poor labourer who worked for a wealthy local family until Soviet rule confiscated the family's farmland in the 1930s during Joseph Stalin's collectivization policy. Following this, his father took the family to the mountains to live out a nomadic existence. His family's religious tradition was Sunni Islam.

Äbish avoided compulsory military service due to a withered arm he had sustained when putting out a fire. At the end of World War II, the family returned to the village of Chemolgan where in 1948, Nazarbayev began attending school and being taught the Russian language; while living with his paternal uncle, as his parents had not owned dwelling in the place for a brief period. Nazarbayev later himself chose to settle in the upper part of Chemolgan where mainly ethnic Russians lived, in order to master Russian while communicating with them. Despite performing well at school, by the time Nazarbayev was in 10th grade, all the classes in the same grade were called off due to the shortage of students and as a result in 1957, he was sent to a boarding school named after Abai Qunanbaiuly in Kaskelen. During that time, Nazarbayev's father, Äbish, wished to create favourable conditions towards his son for studying and living as well as to potentially avoid bad influence from peers by renting himself an apartment for Nazarbayev in the village.

After leaving school, Nazarbayev took up a one-year, government-funded scholarship at the Karaganda Steel Mill in Temirtau. He also spent time training at a steel plant in Dniprodzerzhynsk, and therefore was away from Temirtau when riots broke out there over working conditions. By the age of 20, he was earning a relatively good wage doing "incredibly heavy and dangerous work" in the blast furnace. From there, Nazarbayev married Sara Nazarbayeva on 25 August 1962, who was a dispatcher at the same steel mill that he worked in. Together, both parties would eventually have three daughters: Dariga, Dinara, and Aliya, born in 1963, 1967, and 1980, respectively.

On 15 November 1962, Nazarbayev joined the Communist Party, becoming a prominent member of the Young Communist League (Komsomol) and full-time worker for the party, while attending the Karagandy Polytechnic Institute. He was appointed secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the Karaganda Metallurgical Kombinat in 1972, and four years later became Second Secretary of the Karaganda Regional Party Committee.

In his role as a bureaucrat, Nazarbayev dealt with legal papers, logistical problems, and industrial disputes, as well as meeting workers to solve individual issues. He later wrote that "the central allocation of capital investment and the distribution of funds" meant that infrastructure was poor, workers were demoralised and overworked, and centrally set targets were unrealistic; he saw the steel plant's problems as a microcosm for the problems for the Soviet Union as a whole.

Political career

Defense.gov News Photo 971117-D-9880W-112
William Cohen and Nazarbayev in November 1997
2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade 15
Nazarbayev (third from the left) with Vladimir Putin at the 2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade
Dmitry Medvedev in South Korea, March 2012-15
Nazarbayev (center) at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit with Barack Obama (left) and Dmitry Medvedev (right)
Secretary Kerry Meets With Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev in Astana (22513577630)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Nazarbayev in Aqorda, 2 November 2015
Vladimir Putin with Nursultan Nazarbayev-6
Vladimir Putin with Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2000
KOCIS Year of Kazakhstan in Kazakhstan (4553901378)
Nazarbayev with Lee Myung-bak in Seoul, 2010
Dmitry Medvedev in Saint Petersburg, June 2011-41
Nazarbayev with President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, President of Finland Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2011
Medvedev and Nazarbayev
Meeting with the Russian then-president Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 in Astana
Dmitry Medvedev in Kazakhstan 22 September 2008-13
During a visit to the central mosque of the Aktobe Region, 2008.

Nazarbayev began his political career in 1962, joining the Communist Party of the Soviet Union while working as a factory steel worker. He held prominent positions within the party and in 1984, he was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Kazakh SSR by Dinmukhamed Kunaev. Nazarbayev became the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in 1989. In 1990, he was elected as Kazakhstan's first president by the Supreme Soviet. Nazarbayev played a crucial role in opposing the 1991 coup d'état attempt by Soviet hardliners, which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Presidency (1990–2019)

Nazarbayev ruled an authoritarian regime in Kazakhstan, where a pervasive cult of personality surrounded him, as human rights abuses were severe, dissent was suppressed. In 1995, he governed the country in a rule by decree, as the Supreme Council was absent. In April of that year, a presidential term referendum extended his presidency until 2000. Additionally, in August, constitutional referendum took place, significantly bolstering the executive powers through the introduction of a new draft for the Constitution of Kazakhstan. These actions consolidated Nazarbayev's authority and control over the country's political landscape.

In 1999, Nazarbayev was re-elected second time for what was officially recognized as his first term, as the Constitutional Council's ruling in 2000 allowed him to run again in 2005 under the provisions of a 1995 amendment. Later, exploiting a 2007 amendment that removed term limits exclusively for Nazarbayev, he secured re-election in 2011 and 2015, serving his fourth and fifth terms as president. In 2018, the Parliament approved a constitutional amendment allowing Nazarbayev to lead the Security Council for life.

During Nazarbayev's presidency, Kazakhstan experienced a rapid economic growth in 2000s, driven by high oil prices and market-oriented reforms, establishing the country as a prominent economic power in Central Asia. Foreign investments in key industries fueled modernization and infrastructure development. Additionally, Nazarbayev's foreign policy approach emphasized maintaining good relations with major powers and actively integrating Kazakhstan into regional organizations such as the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States and globally by becoming a member of the World Trade Organization. Moreover, he played a crucial role in nuclear disarmament efforts by renouncing the country's inherited nuclear arsenal and closing the Semipalatinsk Test Site. Despite these accomplishments, challenges persisted due to widespread corruption and nepotism linked to Nazarbayev and his family, which hindered transparency and accountability, posing significant obstacles to Kazakhstan's development. In addition, Nazarbayev's tenure also confronted a series of economic challenges, including the 2007–2008 financial crisis, which triggered periods of inflation.

In March 2019, Nazarbayev resigned from the presidency amid anti-government rallies and was succeeded by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a close ally of his, who overwhelmingly won the following snap presidential election in June 2019. Nazarbayev was immune from any criminal prosecution until being stripped from privileges following the 2022 constitutional referendum and continued to serve as the chairman of both the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan and Nur Otan until 2021. He also was the chairman of the Security Council until his dismissal from that post in response to the 2022 unrest. He was an honorary member of the Senate of Kazakhstan and the member of the Constitutional Council until this title was stripped in 2023.

According to The Economist, despite his resignation, he is still behind the leadership of the country. On 29 November 2019, Nazarbayev was named the Honorary Chair of Central Asian Consultative Meeting. It was announced at the second Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Tashkent.

Personal life

Nursultan Nazarbayev identifies as a Muslim. As devout, Nazarbayev has described his spirituality as being based on the words from Abai Qunanbaiuly, a Kazakh poet whose philosophy is based on an enlightened Islam. According to Nazarbayev, Abai's "Words of Wisdom" aided him in attempting to build a modern Kazakhstan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nazarbayev is married to Sara Alpysqyzy Nazarbayeva. They have three daughters: Dariga, Dinara and Aliya. Aliya's first marriage was notably to Aidar Akayev, the eldest son of former President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev, which for a short period made the two Central Asian leaders related. Having grown up in the Soviet Union, Nazarbayev is fluent in Kazakh as well as Russian and understands English. He has two brothers, Satybaldy (1947–1980) and Bolat (born 1953), as well as one sister named Anip. On 16 August 2020, Nazarbayev's grandson, Aisultan, reportedly died from cardiac arrest in London. Prior to that, Aisultan made several public statements on social media that Nazarbayev was his biological father and that his life was constantly threatened. He also accused his grandfather's associates of plotting and scheming. In response, Nazarbayev described Aisultan as being very similar to himself, expressing his regrets by telling that "one could not have sent him anywhere, but it was impossible to keep him. He was already a slave to this work and could not stop. We treated him in Moscow, and we treated him in London. It seems that I went out and came back to it again."

On 18 June 2020, it was reported that Nazarbayev had tested positive for COVID-19; a spokesman stated that Nazarbayev would go into isolation and work remotely. On 3 July 2020, Nazarbayev had recovered and was "back on his feet" three weeks after contracting the virus. Nazarbayev later during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled his sickness, telling that "group of Russian doctors stood by me for ten days. It was decisive in my recovery, so it will not be forgotten."

In an October 2021 interview, Nazarbayev revealed that he had suffered a disease in his spine back in 2011, to which it became noticed while attending a concert, resulting him being carefully escorted out of the hall and eventually undergo a vertebra surgery to which Nazarbayev stated was amongst things that have influenced him in eventually resigning from presidency.

In January 2023, Nursultan Nazarbayev was hospitalized at the National Scientific Cardiac Surgery Center in Astana. On 20 January 2023, a heart operation was performed, which was successful.

He gave his last name to his grandchildren: Aisultan Nazarbayev (1990-2020) and Nabi Nazarbayev (2008).

Honours

Nursultan Nazerbayev Square
Nursultan Nazarbayev monument, Ankara, Turkey

Kazakhstan

  • Ord.GoldenEagle-ribbon.gif Collar of the Order of the Golden Eagle
  • OrdenNazar.png Collar of the Order of the First President of Kazakhstan – Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev
  • MedalAstana.png Recipient of the Medal "Astana"
  • Medal10RK.png Recipient of the Medal for "10 Years of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
  • Medal10VSRK.png Recipient of the Medal for "10th Anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
  • Medal10Konstitution.png Recipient of the Medal for "10th Anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
  • Medal100JDRK.png Recipient of the Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Railway of Kazakhstan"
  • Medal10Parlm.png Recipient of the Medal for "10 Years of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
  • Medal50Celina.png Recipient of the Medal for "50 Years of the Virgin Lands"
  • 60 victory rib.png Recipient of the Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
  • Medal10Astana.png Recipient of the Medal for "10 Years of the City of Astana"
  • Medal20RK.png Recipient of the Medal for "20 Years of the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"
  • Decoration without ribbon - en.svg Algys Order

Soviet Union

Возложение венка к Могиле Неизвестного Солдата - 11
Nazarbayev with leaders of China, Russia and India during the Moscow Victory Day Parade, 9 May 2015
  • Orderredbannerlabor rib.png Recipient of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
  • SU Order of the Badge of Honour ribbon.svg Recipient of the Order of the Badge of Honour
  • Reclamining the virgin lands rib.png Recipient of the Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands"
  • 70 years saf rib.png Recipient of the Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Russian Federation

  •  Russia:
    • OOSA.jpg Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called
    • Order of Alexander Nevsky 2010 ribbon.svg Recipient of the Order of Alexander Nevsky
    • 1000 anniversary of Kazan rib.png Recipient of the Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan"
    • Ribbon Medal 300 years Saint-Petersburg.png Recipient of the Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg"
    • Ribbon Medal 850 Moscow.png Recipient of the Medal "In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow"
  •  Chechnya:
    • Медаль «Умар Димаев» (лента).png Recipient of the Order of Akhmad Kadyrov
  •  Tatarstan:
    • Орден за заслуги перед Республикой Татарстан.png Recipient of the Order "For Merits to the Fatherland"

Foreign awards

Other

  • Jordan: A street in Amman is named after him.
  • World Turks Qurultai: Turk El Ata (Spiritual Leader of the Turkic People).
  • Russia: A street in the central part of Kazan was named after him.
  • Kazakhstan: The capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, was named after him following his resignation in 2019. In September 2022 it reverted to its original name, Astana.

Images for kids

  • Zhas Otan 2 Congress-2

    Nazarbayev holding a speech in 2012

  • RIAN archive 41059 CIS heads of state

    Nazarbayev (front row, second from left) at the signing of the Alma-Ata Protocol, 21 December 1991

  • Henry Kissinger with former USSR leaders - WEF Annual Meeting 1992

    Nazarbayev (three rows from left) at the 1992 World Economic Forum chaired by Henry Kissinger in Davos

  • Kazakhstan stamp N.Nazarbaev 1993 50t

    1993 Kazakh postage stamp of Nazarbayev

  • Stamps of Kazakhstan, 2013-47

    Postage stamp with Nazarbayev, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev

  • Stamps of Kazakhstan, 2013-37

    Postage stamp with Nazarbayev and his wife

  • Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy Logo

    Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy logo

  • Painting of Nursultan Nazarbayev (15128133391)

    Painting of Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2014

  • Nursultan Nazarbayev Street Amman

    Nursultan Nazarbayev street, Amman

  • Нурсултан Назарбаев (03-06-2021)

    Nazarbayev in 2021

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Nursultán Nazarbáyev para niños

  • Government of Kazakhstan
  • List of national leaders
  • Politics of Kazakhstan
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