Kati Chokaev Death – Kati Chokaev has passed away. On October 20, 2021. He was one of the first generation chechentsev- researchers Nakh languages, which literally through the thorns and the tragic with the Events 20 th century laid the foundation of the Chechen science , we have made an enormous contribution to the new generation of researchers able to develop it further.
They, the first scientists, had to literally physically survive in deportation, wade through obstacles based on ethnicity, accusations of nationalism, in order to become on a par with famous scientists of the USSR and the Russian Federation in the second half of the 20th century.
You can learn about the scientific activities and works of Doctor of Philology, Professor and Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Chechen Republic Katya Chokaev from the Internet, media publications. I would like to tell you a little about him as a person whom I have known personally for many years and with whom I have worked at the department of the Russian language and its methods at ChSPU since 1998.
Katya Zayndievich and I met in 1981, when the head of my thesis at ChIGU, Ivan Alekseevich Shirshov, sent me with her to Chokaev at the Research Institute of National Schools – for a review.
I was greeted by a tall man with an attentive gaze.
I studied at the faculty with his son Hassan and his tarshy son, and from him I knew that there was a relationship between us through my wife Katya. Everything stopped at this knowledge . And according to my information, no relationship or acquaintance mattered to the “son-in-law” when it came to science. And therefore, I was not at all surprised by his dry business tone and the offer to come for a review in a few days, after he carefully read the text of the work .
I came as agreed. Katya Zayndievich sat me down opposite and walked through the entire text, made comments, argued them. And at the end, he said, as it turned out later, the most important words : that I need to do scientific work , go to graduate school and my thesis will be the beginning of future serious research.
And so it happened: at the end of the 80s, I entered graduate school in Moscow and three years later I defended my Ph.D. thesis, the basis for which was the same graduation thesis. All five children of Katya Zayndievich (three sons and two daughters) graduated from universities, and the sons of Khasan and Hussein also went to science – they graduated from graduate school and became candidates of sciences Khasan – philological at the Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and Hussein – physics – at Moscow State University.
Life flowed on. We periodically met at his home, at the institute, and then for almost 20 years we worked together at the same department. He donated several of his works and books, which helped me a lot in understanding the language processes and teaching methods of students.
He greatly appreciated any desire to learn, learn, explore. And extremely coldly, to put it mildly, he perceived ” trash ” in science and a superficial attitude to business, not to mention the desire of some not to be, but to seem “scientists”. Here he could be sharp and uncompromising.
To live to such years, of course, is the will of the Almighty . But Katya Chokaev was an absolutely healthy person and made efforts to this – he went in for sports almost all his life, ate little and only healthy food, had no bad habits. He was very positive in life. I, as, I think, and other colleagues and acquaintances, always met me with a smile and a good mood. He could joke beautifully in Chechen .
Of course, in his long life there was much that was dramatic, there were losses, betrayals, persecutions for scientific uncompromisingness. But he never gave up. He did not change either science or himself. And this firmness of conviction has roots and history. Here is one of them.
I learned the other day, after he left, that during the deportation Katya Chokaev and several other young Chechens had created an organization whose purpose was to return the repressed peoples to the Caucasus. Among the participants, besides him, were the late now scientist Ibragim Saidov, Mahmud Esembaev (!) , My elder paternal uncle Magomed Serganov.
The case, as they say, was in 1954 in Kyrgyzstan. My grandfather Chora Serganov, who returned after 18 years in the camps (after Stalin’s death), helped them write the charter and other documents. But someone reported. When young people were returning together from Frunze (now Bishkek) , some people provoked a fight . The young Chechens fought back quickly and easily (according to the recollections of witnesses, they say that Esembayev’s “contribution” was especially successful ), but they were all taken to the police.
During interrogations, it turned out that the “fight” was a real provocation to detain them, and the real reason was the organization. All the detainees were released within three days, since there was nothing specifically to show. But the most important miracle of liberation, all-ta ki , I think, was the fact that the incident took place after Stalin’s death. Lucky.
The last time we met with Katya Zayndievich was on his 90th birthday at ChSPU in 2019. He sat in a chair on the stage, people came out and made speeches, read out congratulatory addresses and telegrams. Suddenly , Shavadi Arsaliev , doctor of sciences and one of the organizers of the celebration ( unfortunately, also left us this year) , approached me, sitting far enough from the stage, in the side rows , and conveyed Katya’s request to go up to him on stage.
How did he spot me ?! Of course, I got up, trying to stay close to the curtain, we hugged and talked . I even took a selfie together !
She promised to visit him. I put it off. But it turned out that she did not keep her promise. But I believe that Katya Zayndievich forgave me. Because he treated me with love, like a daughter. And I towards him with immeasurable RESPECT.
Gave a Gechdoila Hyuna!