The Chuvash enlightener Ivan Yakovlev was born on April 25, 1848 in the inconspicuous village of Cats-Novotimbaevo, in the Simbirsk province. He was the son of a poor peasant and at a very early age was left without parents. An orphaned child was adopted by the Chuvash Pakhomov family from the same village.
early years
The boy was lucky to get an education that in the future allowed him not only to start a career, but also to educate the Volga population. In 1856, the boy went to study at the school, in the neighboring village of Buinsky district.
Ivan Yakovlev got there thanks to a prescription issued by a specific department responsible for the education of orphans. The village school was completed in 1860. In it, Ivan Yakovlev became the best student. Natural abilities and talents allowed him to get to the county school of the provincial city of Simbirsk, and then to the local gymnasium.
Acquaintance with the Chuvash culture
Yakovlev fell into the class of surveyors. After graduating from high school, he worked for four years in his specialty in the Simbirsk Specific Office. As a rural merchant, young Ivan Yakovlev traveled not only to his native, but also to the neighboring Kazan and Samara provinces. Traveling was not in vain. Visiting the village and getting to know the locals, the surveyor knew better the life, culture and life of the Volga population, among which were Russians, Tatars, Chuvashs and Mordovians.
At the same time, the liberal ideas of the 60s had a strong influence on the worldview of young Yakovlev. XIX century. Following these covenants, he came to the conclusion that the native Chuvash people needed education, familiarization with Russian culture, as well as literacy training. In the Volga province, its distribution was extremely low compared to the capital. Ivan Yakovlev believed that in order to improve the life of the Chuvash, it was not at all necessary to resort to bloody revolutions and social upheavals. Enlighten the people and recreate their culture.
Teacher
To implement his plan, Yakovlev began to earn extra money by tutoring. However, this work was not his main occupation. The beginning teacher began to spend money from lessons on the organization and maintenance of his own private school for Chuvash children.
At this first stage, the main comrade and ally of the enlightener was his fellow villager Alexei Rekeev. He shared the ideas and hopes that Ivan Yakovlevich Yakovlev experienced. The biography of teachers showed that their desire to educate children from the outback was not just a momentary passion of youth - they really dedicated their lives to this goal.
Supporters
Serious support was given to Yakovlev by Ilya Ulyanov, an inspector of public schools in the Simbirsk province and the father of Vladimir Lenin. His help contributed to the expansion of the school of a young teacher. In 1870, Ivan Yakovlev graduated from high school, receiving a gold medal. After that, he went to continue his education at Kazan University. During his absence, Ilya Ulyanov took care of the Chuvash school . The inspector of public schools sent the student books, necessary literature, and even money, so that he could freely get a specialty.
At the university, Yakovlev met with professor and expert on folklore Nikolai Ilminsky. His detailed consultations made it possible to draw up a new Chuvash alphabet based on Slavic graphics. The need has long been ripe for its updating. The fact was that the previous alphabet, which used the Turkic Old Bulgarian language as a basis, was outdated, and it was used only by a small part of the population.
ABC Book Edition
The appearance of a new Chuvash primer did not take long to wait. The book was published in 1872. This primer and later written stories by Ivan Yakovlevich Yakovlev became an important milestone for the development of the national culture of the Volga people. The books of the enlightener quickly gained popularity and became truly popular. At the same time, the first two editions of the primer were published at the teacher's own expense. The self-made decision of the enlightener was not surprising for those who knew him well.
Ivan Yakovlevich Yakovlev spent a lot of time, energy and other resources on educating the masses. The biography of this man is amazing and vibrant, because before him no one has applied so much effort to help the development of the Chuvash culture. In the 70s, Yakovlev was helped by his youth and youthful enthusiasm, with which he undertook any business.
Inspector of Chuvash schools
In 1875, the student graduated from Kazan University, receiving a diploma from the Faculty of History and Philology. Now, completely new possibilities opened up before him. The young man became an inspector who monitored the state of Chuvash schools in the Volga provinces. The place of his permanent residence was Simbirsk, where the center of the educational district was located.
It was then that the philologist and historian with all their might set about enlightening and pedagogical activity. She was full of anxieties, worries and dramatic confrontations with local officials. But at the same time, every public story of Ivan Yakovlev about the work of his whole life attracted many supporters. These were not just sympathetic people. Most of them were provincial nobles who possessed money and influence. Largely thanks to them, the enlightener managed to stand at the head of the Simbirsk Chuvash school. This educational institution quickly turned into a local phenomenon. Future teachers, who later started working in local small schools, received specialty at the school, helping Chuvash children get rid of illiteracy. Over the fifty years of work, the Simbirsk school graduated from several thousand teachers. This educational institution has become an important center of the Chuvash culture and writing.
Literary activity
What exactly did Ivan Yakovlev do? The teacher’s biography is an example of a constantly writing person. The educator regularly published new textbooks, textbooks, and translated fiction, medical, agricultural, and other literature into the Chuvash language. The stories of Ivan Yakovlevich Yakovlev for children were especially popular. They were published in the form of collections and anthologies instantly distributed among the masses. In every Chuvash house where children were raised, these books became desktop books.
A separate place is occupied by the epistolary heritage of Yakovlev. The educator corresponded with academics, scientists, musicians, artists, journalists, and publishers. For fifty years, he wrote about two thousand large letters. Now all of them are of historical and cultural value. Thanks to them, you can restore the picture of the Volga province of the late XIX - early XX century. Letters and tales of Ivan Yakovlev have been reprinted more than once in both the Soviet and the modern era.
Chuvash enlightener
The most important principle of the enlightener was his idea that the Chuvash culture should integrate with the Russian and in no case come into conflict with it. Yakovlev believed that the interests of the peoples of the vast empire, and then of the socialist state, cannot be opposed. On the contrary, all nations, regardless of their ethnic and cultural differences, should embark on the path of unification and strengthening of ties among themselves.
This principle was best reflected in the teacher’s activities related to the enlightenment of the Chuvash. Yakovlev believed that this people should join Christianity, since it was religion that could become an important link between different ethnic groups. To do this, he himself translated some Biblical writings into the Chuvash language, including the Psalter and the New Testament. For this, Ivan Yakovlevich at one time created a new alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet. In addition, he believed that it was necessary to familiarize the Russian population with the Chuvash realities - life, traditions and customs. The Enlightener continued to teach and write books until he was very old.
He died on October 23, 1930. Today, the memory of Ivan Yakovlev is honored in the entire Volga region, and especially among the Chuvash population.