Places named after people

February 3rd, 2014 Sections: Places, Who's Who
What street?

What street?

Some time ago I was looking for something on the internet and. you know how it is when you are surfing, I found myself on a webpage about something totally different.  In this case it was a geographical site … and I had landed up on a page about “places named after people” … and that was either lifted from Wikipedia or else served as the source for a similar entry in the on-line encyclopedia.

Somewhat intrigued, I clicked on the link for Kyrgyzstan and there I found just three entries … and two of those referred to the former names of cities have since been renamed:

  • Frunze - after the Red Army General and Civil War Hero, the capital city which is now called Bishkek … and
  • Prezhervalsk - after the Russian explorer who helped to open Central Asia and died just outside the city, which is now called Karakol.

The third name in the list was for Shopokov – named after one of the infantrymen who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union: he was one of  the Panifilovetz … 28 soldiers who gave their lives defending Moscow during the Second World War (The Great Patriotic War, as it is known here) … who was born there in 1915.  It used to be known as Kranayoktabraskiy, (Red October), before it was renamed in honour of its most famous son in 1985.

I appreciate that it couldn’t be an exhaustive list – but some countries had much longer lists … others were surprising short – the United Kingdom, for example, with just 16 places.  All the same I couldn’t help thinking, “that can’t be all, can it?” … and so I started thinking, mentally compiling a list:

.

Towns and villages:

  • Ananyevo: on the Northerm shore of Lake Issyk Kul, named after another of the Panfilovsky, born in a village on the northern shore of Lake Issyk Kul.
  • Arslanbob: in the mountains on the Northern side of the Ferghana Valley – said to be named after an 11th century hero who met his death nearby – betrayed by his wife to his enemies. His footprints, handprints and bloodstains are said to be still visible at the spot.
  • Baetov: A singer, poet, composer and bard;
  • Bokobaeva: on the southern shore of Lake Issyk Kul – after a famous poet and playwright
  • Kojumkol:  in the Kekemeren Valley after a giant of a man, (he was 2.3 meters tall- seven feet five inches – and weighed 164 kg. – 361 lbs or nearly 26 stone), born in 1889 and who died in 1955 at the age of 67. Apart from his size, which would mark him out in any society – in one which takes “macho” qualities very seriously, he became a local hero for his feats of strength.
  • Semyenov: a village on the Northern shore named after the Russian geographer who made many scientific discoveries during the course of his journeys in the Central Tien Shan … which resulted in him being awarded the honourific title of “Tienshansky” by the Tsar.
  • Toktogul: on main Bishkek Osh road, on the Northern shore of the Toktogul Reservoir, named after the akyn and poet who was exiled to Siberia under the Tsarist Empire and escaped back to Kyrgyzstan where he embraced the Bolshevik cause. His portrait appears on the one hundred som banknote.
  • Zharkinabaev: born in 1911 in the village of Tashtak on the northern shore of Lake Issyk Kul – the next village to the East of Ananyevo. In 1944, he was a “gun-layer”, an observer, and he single-handedly killed half an enemy platoon with his machine gun, on the Ukrainian front, saving a vital bridgehead. He survived the war and eventually died in 1969 – and the village was renamed in his honour.

… not to mention anything ending with Ata (because Ata means Father – so Cholopn Ata is named after Cholpon’s Father … who appears in a very popular folk tale), such as: Cholpon Ata; Kerben Ata; Kochkor Ata; Padasha Ata…

… and, I suppose, we ought to mention:

  • Balykchy: Russian soldier serving in the region fell in love with the area and decided to retire here. He had so much success fishing from his home made boat that many local people came to settle nearby, followed his example and took up fishing the waters of the lake. When he died, it is said that the town that had grown up around his hut was named in his honour: Riybachie – “The Fisherman”.  Balykchy is simply Fisherman translated into Kyrgyz

Geographical features:

Then there are geographical features, glaciers, lakes, peaks and so forth … for example:

  • Akademik Adyshev Peak;
  • Peak Dankova;
  • Peak Dzerzhinskiy;
  • the Dunlarov Bridge;
  • Lenin Glacier;
  • Peak Lenin,
  • the Merzbacher Lakes;
  • Mount Nansen;
  • Peak Putin;
  • Semyenov Glacier;
  • Semyenov Peak;
  • Peak Skobelev;
  • Boris Yeltsin Peak; …

and, of course, there’s always Manas Peak

.

Streets names:

I confess to a problem when it comes to street names … I have long thought about writing a postcard about street names here in Bishkek … but it every time I sit down and start to compile I list I get demoralized about exactly how many there are … and it looks like a massive task … One Street directory lists almost six hundred street names and 45% of them are named after people , (almost evenly divided by Kyrgyz characters – such as Abrdracjmanova or Tyntstanov – and foreigners – for example Russians, such as Gorky Street or Lev Tolstoy, or people from further abroad, such as Mahatma Gandhi), whereas the names of about a fifth of the streets are associated with a place, such as Prospect Chui and Kievskaya, whilst the rest (about a third) are things like Eighteenth Street, Sovietskaya, Erkindik or Tikaya – Quiet – Street.

Here are just some examples, 26 out of about 260:

not to mention streets that have been renamed such as Derzhinsky, Engels, Karl Marx, Kirov and Stalin

… and then, of course, there is Prospect Manas 

.

… and then there are some of Bishkek’s parks:

 

As I sat composing my list – I appreciated that it would not be exhaustive  but I hope it is at least a little more complete than the one I found on-line.

 

 

Tags: ,
Write comment | Trackback
No comments yet.
You need to log-in in order to add a comment.