Mayram Duishenovna Akaeva (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Майрам Дуйшеновна Акаева) is the wife of the ousted

President of Kyrgyzstan The president of Kyrgyzstan, officially the president of the Kyrgyz Republic, is the head of state and head of government of the Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Republic. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Kyrgyzstan, national g ...

Askar Akayev Askar Akayevich Akayev (, ; born 10 November 1944) is a Kyrgyz former politician who served as President of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 until being overthrown in the March 2005 Tulip Revolution. Education and early career Akayev was born in Kyzyl-B ...

and

First Lady of Kyrgyzstan First Lady () or First Gentleman of Kyrgyzstan is the title attributed to the spouse of the president of Kyrgyzstan. The current first lady is Aigul Japarova, the wife of President Sadyr Japarov. To date, there has been no official first gentlema ...

from 1990 to 2005.

Early life and career

Akayeva was born in the village of Shumkar in the Talas District of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

on November 7, 1947. She first met her future husband in 1969 at a house party for fellow college students. At the time, he was a professor at the Leningrad Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics (ITMO), whence he had graduated two years earlier with an honors degree in mathematics, engineering and computer science. One year later they married and had their first two children in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. From 1974-1977, she was a lecturer at ITMO, before returning to the

Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR), also known as the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kyrgyz SSR), KySSR or Kirgiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirgiz SSR), was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of ...

where her kids would spend the rest of their childhood, and where Akayeva continued her career as an associate professor at the Frunze Polytechnic Institute. Following the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

, she taught at the

Kyrgyz National University The Kyrgyz National University, named after renowned Maturidi poet Yūsuf Balasaguni, Jusup Balasagyn, is a national university in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz National University is located in the capital city of Bishkek. It is the oldest and the largest ...

in the capital. At around this time, her husband, who was the leader of the Kyrgyz SSR at the time, was elected to the newly formed post of

President of the Kyrgyz Republic The president of Kyrgyzstan, officially the president of the Kyrgyz Republic, is the head of state and head of government of the Kyrgyz Republic. The president directs the executive branch of the national government, is the commander-in-chief ...

. As a result, Akayeva automatically became the original

. She became the first spouse of a leader of a post-Soviet states to publish her memoirs, publishing the book "Hope Has No Night". During her tenure as first lady, she held the post of President of the Meerim International Charitable Foundation for the Support of Motherhood and Childhood, a position she held until 2005. That year, as the events of the

Tulip Revolution The Tulip Revolution, also known as the First Kyrgyz Revolution, led to Kyrgyzstan's then-President of Kyrgyzstan, President Askar Akayev's fall from power. The revolution began after Kyrgyz parliamentary elections, 2005, parliamentary elections ...

were unfolding in

, Akayeva and her entire family, including President Akayev, were exiled to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, and then more permanently to

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where they reside today.

Personal life

Akayeva and her husband have four children together:

Bermet Bermet ( sr-Cyrl, Бермет) is a dessert wine that is a specialty of northern Serbia's Fruška Gora wine region, in the Vojvodina province. It was originally intended for medicinal purposes (similar to the original digestifs), but later it wa ...

, Aidar, Saadat, and Ilym. Akayeva herself has two sisters, both of whom worked in government. Besides Kyrgyz, she is also fluent in Russian. In October 2003, she was awarded the

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

for her work in supporting mothers of children. Five years later, she was elected in Moscow as a member of the Academy of Noble Affairs in Honor of the Fatherland and the Academy of Security, Defense and Law and Order Issues of the Russian Federation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akayeva, Mayram Living people 1947 births First ladies and gentlemen of Kyrgyzstan 20th-century Kyrgyzstani women politicians 20th-century Kyrgyzstani politicians Ethnic Kyrgyz people (individuals) Academic staff of Kyrgyz National University Academic staff of Kyrgyz Technical University 21st-century Kyrgyzstani women politicians 21st-century Kyrgyzstani politicians 20th-century presidents in Asia