Chokin, Shafik Chokinovich

Childhood and Youth

Sh. Ch. Chokin was born as the youngest child in a poor family of eight children: five brothers and three sisters ^[2] . Comes from the subgenus Aydabol of the Suyindyk clan of the Argyn Middle Zhuz tribe. Father, Shoki Baimagambetov, realizing the importance of education, despite the difficult financial situation in the family, sent his eldest son Riza to study. Subsequently, this allowed Riesa to stand up and, after the death of her father in 1918 , help the whole family. In the mid-1920s, Shafik Chokin studied at the aul school and the school of peasant youth in Bayanaul . In 1926, Shafiq’s brother Riza slaughtered the only cow in the family and sent Shafiq to study in the city of Karkaralinsk in a pedagogical college, which he graduated in 1930. From 1931 to 1933, Chokin studied at the Central Asian Institute of Engineers and Irrigation Technicians (SAIITI) in Tashkent . In 1934 he entered and in 1937 graduated from the irrigation and drainage department of the Omsk Agricultural Institute named after S. M. Kirov . As a student, he actively participated in student life. So, while studying in Tashkent, Chokin was the deputy chairman of the Central Asian Bureau of proletarian students. During his studies in Omsk , he was the chairman of the community of Kazakhstan students studying in this city. ^[3]

Career start

After graduating from the institute in 1937, Shafik Chokin was sent to work in the Kazakh Republican Trust for Electrification of Agriculture of the People's Commissariat of the Kazakh SSR (Kazselkhozhelektro), where until 1939 he held the positions of engineer, senior engineer, department head. In 1939, he was appointed chief engineer and deputy director of the trust for technical matters ^[4] . In the same year, Shafik Chokin joined the ranks of the CPSU ^[5] .

During the Great Patriotic War , for safety reasons, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences was evacuated to Alma-Ata along with many scientists from all fields of science. In 1943, Shafik Chokin, as a member of the commission on mobilizing the resources of Siberia , the Urals and Kazakhstan for the needs of the front, went to the village of Borovoye in the Akmola region of the Kazakh SSR . There a young engineer met with G. M. Krzyzhanovsky . In his memoirs, “Four Times of Life,” Shafik Chokin writes:

The meeting with the academician was remembered for a lifetime. The legendary man at the origins of the formation of the Bolshevik party, Ilyich’s friend and associate, creator of the GOELRO plan . And all this contained only one life! ^[6]

Using the example of academician Krzhizhanovsky, Chokin learned many lessons about what a real energy scientist should be like, how he should think and what he should strive for. This strengthened confidence in Chokin’s vocation even more and he carried out all further scientific research in the energy sector, following the example of Gleb Maximilianovich Krzhizhanovsky ^[7] .

In the same 1943, the chairman of the KazFAN of the USSR K.I. Satpayev invited Chokin to his place and proposed to head the newly organized energy sector, which for Chokin meant the cessation of his engineering activities and his departure to science. After some hesitation, he accepted Satpayev’s offer. In the book “Four Times of Life,” he wrote:

Kanysh Imantayevich for me is an example of an obsession in science, an example of how to live for his people. With his light hand I went into science, which I consider a gift of fate. ^[eight]

In 1945, Shafik Chokin was awarded the medal " For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" , as well as an honorary diploma of the USSR Academy of Sciences in connection with its 220th anniversary.

Institute of Energy

In 1944, on the basis of the energy sector, Chokin organized the Kazakh Energy Research Institute , which is the first energy research institution in Kazakhstan ^[1] , and was its director until 1988 . KazNII of Energy of the USSR Ministry of Energy during the leadership of Academician Chokin became one of the largest and most advanced scientific institutions of the energy profile in the country with unique experimental facilities, many of which had no analogues in the world. All the major scientific achievements of academician Chokin and the main scientific discoveries in the field of energy in Kazakhstan are associated with this institute. Within its walls, an integrated system of scientific and technical forecast for the development of Kazakhstan’s energy sector, projects of the Irtysh-Karaganda Canal , the Kapchagai Hydroelectric Power Station , and the rotation of Siberian rivers were developed. Most of Chokin’s monographs, including “Energy of Kazakhstan”, were written while working at this institute ^[3] .

“The Institute’s asset can be safely recorded as the Irtysh-Karaganda Canal, research on the scientific basis for transferring part of the Siberian river flow to Kazakhstan and Central Asia, the Kapchagai hydroelectric station, work on regulating river flow, combustion theory, new boilers, developments in plasma technology, general energy research. You can’t list everything. ^[9], ”Chokin wrote in a book of memoirs.

Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR

Under Satpayev

Arriving in 1943 in the KazFAN of the USSR as the head of the energy sector, Chokin took an active part in the creation of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. Since its founding in 1946, he has held key positions in her system. Initially, he was the director of the Kazakh Research Institute of Energy, which until 1963 was part of it. Then, in the same 1946, the duty of the deputy chairman of the mineral resources department was added to this post. From 1954 to 1955, Chokin was the chairman of this department. From 1954 to 1968, the academician was a member of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR and took an active part in its management. From 1955 to 1962 he worked as chief scientific secretary of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR ^[10] .

Education and all kinds of support for scientific personnel, creation of a creative and friendly atmosphere at the Academy, close interaction with the USSR Academy of Sciences and republican academies for the mutual exchange of experience - all these were features of the work of the Kaz SSR Academy of Sciences during the period of Satpayev’s presidency. Shafik Chokin, considering the chosen course of the Academy's development to be right, strongly supported its president in many areas.

Election and dismissal

In 1964 ^[11] , after the death of Academician Satpayev, Shafik Chokin was elected President of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. The election was preceded by discussions and disputes in the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, and the union leadership came to the conclusion that at that time it was the most suitable candidate. As the head of the Academy, Chokin adhered to the leadership style and continued the traditions of its founder and first president Satpayev. However, soon around the Academy of Sciences and its president Chokin, "clouds began to gather". The commission began to attend the academy, there were discontent and nit-picking from the leadership of the Republic. This became known to the Central Committee of the CPSU. In this connection, in May 1966, a commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences arrived, headed by its president M.V. Keldysh . The activities of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR and Chokin as president were studied in detail. Keldysh and the rest of the commission were pleased with the work of the Republican Academy and its leader. A positive assessment is reflected in the resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences No. 579 dated 06/26/1966 ^[12] . However, in 1967, Shafik Chokin was removed from the post of president of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. In the book “The Way of the National Academy of Sciences,” he describes these events as follows:

... In early April 1967, I was summoned to a meeting of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan to discuss my activities. The meeting was held behind closed doors, it was chaired by D. A. Kunaev, for some reason there were no protocol notes ... The members of the Bureau of the Central Committee sat as if they had taken water in their mouths. Only the second secretary of the Central Committee of the party V. Titov, the chairman of the Council of Ministers M. Beisebaev and the chairman of the Supreme Council, S. B. Niyazbekov, suggested that I submit an application for the dismissal of the president of the Academy of Sciences. I flatly refused to do this ... ^[13]

However, in this situation there is a contradiction. D. A. Kunaev , who was then the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, writes about this in his book of memoirs:

After Satpayev’s death, Sh. Ch. Chokin, an energy scientist, became president ... Chokin worked for a short time and was relieved of his duties at the request of the president. ^[14]

Party Activities

Along with science, Shafik Chokin also took part in the party life of the country. In 1942 - 1952, he was elected as a deputy of the Frunze District Council of People's Deputies of the city of Almaty. In 1956-1962, Chokin was a member of the Alma-Ata City Party Committee, a deputy of the Alma-Ata City Council of People's Deputies. As the president of the Academy of Sciences, the academician was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 6th convocation, deputy chairman of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 6th convocation. From 1966 to 1971 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR ^[10] .

Other posts

In 1960, Chokin was a member of the USSR delegation to participate in the United Nations Energy Conference for Asia and the Far East, held in Bangkok , where he made presentations on the development of general energy, hydropower and water resources of the USSR. In 1962-1964, the academician was the chairman of the joint councils of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR for the reception of doctoral and master's theses in the following specialties: hydropower, general energy, hydraulic engineering and industrial heat engineering, metallurgy of ferrous, non-ferrous, rare and precious metals and development of solid mineral deposits. From 1963 to 1979, Shafik Chokinovich was a member of the technical council of the Ministry of Energy of the Kaz SSR. In 1964-1968 he was a member of the Scientific Council "Energy and Electrification" of the State Committee for the Coordination of Scientific Research of the USSR. From 1965 to 1975, Chokin was a member of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the USSR. In 1965, he was a member of the parliamentary delegation of the USSR, in which he made a report at the World Conference of Scientists. In 1968 he was a member of the USSR delegation at the World Energy Conference, held in Moscow . In 1971, Shafik Chokin was a member of the USSR delegation in Paris at the World Conference on Hydraulic Research, where he made a presentation. In 1973, he was deputy chairman of the organizing committee of the Symposium of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on mathematical models of the economics of the energy sectors ^[10] .

The last years of life

On June 14, 1988, by a joint decision of the Board of the Ministry of Energy and Electrification of the USSR and the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, Chokin was appointed Honorary Director of the Kazakh Research Institute of Energy. By the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated September 30, 1992 , during the life of the academician, the Institute of Energy was named after Shafik Chokin.

In 1993, Chokin was elected an honorary member of the National Engineering Academy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 1996, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, N. A. Nazarbayev, in his residence in Almaty awarded Academician Sh. Ch. Chokin the highest degree of distinction - the title of People's Hero of Kazakhstan with the award of a special distinction - the Golden Star ^[15] . As written in the decree: “For outstanding services in the development of science and energy, a great personal contribution to the training of highly qualified scientific personnel” ^[16] .

In 2002 , during the solemn celebration of the 90th anniversary of the academician, akim (mayor) of the city of Almaty V.V. Khrapunov awarded Shafik Chokin the title “Honorary Citizen of Almaty”.

Shafik Chokin died in the 91st year of his life. The farewell ceremony was held in the main building of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan and was widely covered by the media. The academician in Alma-Ata was buried in the Central Cemetery in front of his teacher Kanysh Imantayevich Satpayev.

Family

Father - Shoki Baimagambetov (?? −1918) - a peasant.

Mother - Sakhyp Baimagambetova (?? −1945) is a housewife.

Brothers - Riza Chokin (1900-1981) - a Soviet party and public figure, Zakir Chokin (?? −1941) - a participant in the Great Patriotic War.

Wife - Urmia Amirovna Amirova (1918-2004).

Son - Kanat Shafikovich Chokin (born in 1948) - physicist, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, academician of the New York Academy of the USA, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Daughters - Bakhyt Shafikovna Chokina - chemist, Maral Shafikovna Chokina - physician

Nephew - Alikhan Rizayevich Chokin - a prominent medical scientist, hygienist, medical historian ^[17] .

Grand-nephew ^[18] - Nurzhan Salkenovich Subkhanberdin (born in 1965) - banker, entrepreneur.

General Research

Chokin's scientific interests cover general energy, hydropower, water-energy problems. Shafik Chokin laid the foundation of an integrated system of scientific and technical forecast for the development of energy in Kazakhstan, he justified the ways of forming the country's fuel and energy complexes. Shafik Chokinovich developed a methodology for assessing the scale, structure and location of generating capacities, as well as energy consumption and optimization of energy supply routes for the national economy. Chokin's monograph “The Energy of Kazakhstan”, in which most of the studies in the above areas were published, was highly appreciated by the outstanding Soviet power engineer G. M. Krzhizhanovsky ^[3] . Chokin is the founder and for almost half a century the permanent head of the Kazakhstan Scientific Research Institute of Energy, one of the largest scientific institutions of the energy sector in the USSR. The author of the projects of the Irtysh-Karaganda canal , Kapchagai hydroelectric station . Academician Chokin created and mastered a fundamentally new highly efficient technology for the production of copper, lead and zinc KIVCET (oxygen-weighted cyclone-electrothermal smelting), providing comprehensive extraction of the main valuable components and protecting the environment from emissions. The cyclone method of processing various metallurgical and technological raw materials has been successfully introduced into the industry. This achievement of Chokin was awarded the State Prize of the Kazakh SSR in 1978 ^[19] .

Organization of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR

Being one of the closest associates of academician K.I. Satpayev , Shafik Chokin made a huge contribution to the creation and development of the Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan . В целях получения согласия на организацию Академии он вместе с Сатпаевым совершил ряд поездок в Москву, где доказывал необходимость её основания в Совете баз и филиалов АН СССР, отделе науки ЦК КПСС, Академии наук СССР. Также Чокин участвовал в подготовке квалифицированных научных кадров-будущих работников АН КазССР: подготовил несколько десятков аспирантов. Одним из важнейших этапов создания Академии была организация в КазФАН СССР 11 новых научно-исследовательских институтов. Чокин принимал активное участие в решении вопроса о размещении новых научных организаций.

Канал Иртыш — Караганда

В конце 1940-х годов учёные поняли серьёзность проблемы дефицита воды в Центральном Казахстане. Через территорию Казахстана протекают 2174 реки, среди которых полноводные Иртыш , Ишим , Урал , Сырдарья , Или и другие. Однако лишь 5,5 процента воды рек приходилось на долю Центрального Казахстана. Ещё большее внимание к проблеме привлекло то, что в 1948 году К. И. Сатпаев предложил перенести столицу Казахской ССР из Алма-Аты в Караганду или Акмолинск (ныне Астана ), находящиеся в данном регионе. В 1949 году , во время выездной сессии Академии наук КазССР, Ш. Ч. Чокин предложил сооружение канала, перебрасывающего в Центральный Казахстан воды Иртыша ^[20] . Данная идея вызвала множество споров среди научной общественности. Учёные московского института «Водоканалпроект» и Института гидрогеологии и гидрофизики АН КазССР считали более разумной идею использования подземных вод. Однако позже оказалось, что подземные воды могли обеспечить потребности региона лишь на четверть ^[21] . Таким образом было принято решение о проектировании канала.

Чокин организовал и возглавил ряд экспедиций по разработке схемы использования рек Центрального и Северного Казахстана, по выбору трассы будущего канала. Будучи директором института энергетики, академик руководил проектированием объекта. Работа была завершена к концу 1950-х. В 1959 году К. И. Сатпаев обосновал необходимость строительства канала перед председателем Госплана СССР А. Н. Косыгиным и добился включения его сооружения в семилетку ^[21] . На проходившей позже выездной сессии Академии наук КазССР в Караганде председатель Совнархоза Г. Онико предложил название «Иртыш-Караганда» ^[22] . В том же году было начато строительство канала, которое завершилось в 1974 году .

Переброска сибирских рек

В начале 50-х академик Чокин поднял вопрос о переброске части стока сибирских рек в Казахстан и Среднюю Азию . Главной причиной для поднятия академиком данного вопроса послужила проблема Аральского моря . Основные источники воды Арала , реки Сырдарья и Амударья , растекались по хлопковым и рисовым полям и в результате основная часть воды не доходила до моря. Чокин считал, что в случае исчезновения Арала миллиарды тонн соляной пудры могли подняться вверх и улечься на большой территории вокруг моря, что, учитывая её ядовитый состав, могло быть чревато негативными последствиями для населявших близлежащие районы людей. Теоретически, разработанный Чокиным проект мог решить проблему высыхания Аральского моря. Другими предпосылками для поднятия Шафиком Чокиновичем вопроса были дефицит воды и растущая потребность в электроэнергии на территории Казахстана и Средней Азии . Укреплял уверенность Чокина в правильности идеи разработанный и успешно внедрённый в эксплуатацию канал Иртыш — Караганда, который по мнению многих может считаться первым этапом переброски. На протяжении почти 20 лет Институтом энергетики под его непосредственным руководством велась разработка данного проекта. В 1978 году была составлена принципиальная схема его осуществления и передана в Минводхоз СССР ^[3] . Из-за необходимости высоких финансовых вложений и сомнений в состоятельности данной идеи было принято решение ЦК КПСС о свёртывании проектных работ. Однако в 2002 году смелую идею призвал реанимировать мэр города Москвы Ю. М. Лужков ^[23] .

С момента поднятия Чокиным вопроса о переброске части стока сибирских рек и вплоть до настоящего времени эта идея подвергается критике многими учёными, в том числе А. Л. Яншиным, Л. С. Понтрягиным , А. Аганбегяном , М. Агошковым . Главными аргументами противников являются подъём грунтовых вод вдоль канала, что приведёт к нарушению состава флоры и изменению климата в этих регионах. Также противники утверждают, что проект повлечёт за собой изменение теплового баланса в Российской Арктике и соответственно изменение климата на значительных территориях России ^[24] .

Именем академика Чокина названы:

• Казахский научно-исследовательский институт энергетики
• улица в городе Павлодар и с 2017 года в городе Алматы .
• премия в области энергетики президиума Академии наук Республики Казахстан .
• премия за выдающиеся инженерные разработки и прогрессивные технологии, внедрённые в производство и внёсшие крупный вклад в развитие промышленности суверенного Казахстана национальной инженерной академии Республики Казахстан ^[25]
• именная стипендия Ш. Ч. Чокина в ПГУ им. С. Торайгырова ^[26] .

В посёлке Баянаул на аллее славы установлен бюст академика Чокина ^{[27] [28]} , также памятник Чокину имеется на могиле в Алма-Ате.

На территории КазНИИ энергетики также установлен памятник Чокину. ^[29] В КазНИИ энергетики открыт мемориальный музей Шафика Чокина.

В городе Алматы на пересечении проспекта Абылай хана и улицы Богенбай батыра с северо-западной стороны на доме №123 где он проживал установлена мемориальная доска.

Имеется ходатайство Союза инженеров-энергетиков Казахстана о присвоении Капчагайской ГЭС имени академика Чокина ^[30] .

Документальный фильм

• «Шафик Чокин» (режиссёр Калила Умаров , 2013)

• награждён медалью « За доблестный труд в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг.» (1945)
• награждён Почётной грамотой Академии наук СССР в связи с её 220-летием (1945)
• Заслуженный деятель науки Казахской ССР (1961)
• Отличник энергетики и электрификации СССР (1966)
• награждён медалью « За доблестный труд в ознаменование 100-летия со дня рождения Владимира Ильича Ленина » (1970)
• награждён юбилейным знаком «50 лет плана ГОЭЛРО» (1970)
• награждён орденом Трудового Красного Знамени (1971)
• лауреат Государственной премии КазССР (1972)
• награждён медалью « Тридцать лет победы в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг. » (1975)
• награждён значком «60 лет ГОЭЛРО» (1980)
• награждён орденом Октябрьской Революции (1982)
• Почётный энергетик СССР (1982) ^[3]
• лауреат премии им. К. И. Сатпаева (1991)
• Народный герой Казахстана (1996)
• Почётный гражданин города Алматы (2002)
• Имеет ряд медалей и грамот Верховного Совета СССР

• Энергетика Казахстана. Алма-Ата, 1958.
• Научные основы энергоснабжения сельского хозяйства Казахстана. Алма-Ата, 1966.
• Основы развития энергетики Казахстана. Алма-Ата, 1971.
• Энергетика и водное хозяйство Казахстана. Алма-Ата, 1975.
• Методика расчёта регулирования стока. Алма-Ата, 1977.
• Топливно-энергетический баланс Казахстана. Алма-Ата, 1979.
• Инженерные методы расчёта регулирования стока. Алма-Ата, 1980.
• Расчёты водохранилищ многоцелевого назначения. Алма-Ата, 1983.
• Регулирование нагрузки электроэнергетической системы. Алма-Ата, 1985.
• «Четыре Времени Жизни». Алматы, 1992.
• «Путь Национальной Академии наук». Алматы, 1996.
• «Четыре Времени Жизни», издание 2-е, дополненное. Алматы, 1998.

• Казахский научно-исследовательский институт энергетики имени академика Ш. Ч. Чокина (недоступная ссылка)
• История Национальной Академии наук Республики Казахстан
• к 95-летию академика Шафика Чокина
• Жить по сердцу и совести
• Биография академика Чокина
• Потечёт ли сибирская река Обь в Центральную Азию
• Вода — как политический инструмент. Позиция Казахстана по каналу Обь-ЦентрАзия
• Сайт акимата Павлодарской области. Исторические личности.
• Аллея талантов Баянаула
• Академия наук Каз ССР: библиография учёных Казахстана: Шафик Чокинович Чокин, «Наука», Алма-Ата, 1982 г.