Meŋlıahmed Jumabaiūly) (1886–1976), was literate, worked in agricultural and trade organizations of the Alma-Ata oblast and could write well in both Russian and Kazakh.

After finishing the Almaty №14th secondary school in 1930, he studied in the Institute of Non-Ferrous and Fine Metallurgy in Moscow in 1936, which enabled him to become a machine operator.

In this post, during the years of World War II, he conducted significant work on the deployment and commissioning of enterprises and factories evacuated to Kazakhstan from the front-line areas of the USSR, as well as mobilising and training the republic's human reserves and soldiers for the Red Army.

In 1952, he was elected President of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR,[5] which under his leadership conducted scientific research with the aim of developing and improving industry and agriculture, and the more efficient use of Kazakhstan's natural resources.

When Brezhnev left Kazakhstan in 1956, Ivan Iakovlev became the First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party (and was succeeded by Nikolai Belyaev).

[8] One of Kunaev's first actions as leader of the Kazakh SSR was a visit to the United States in January 1960, as part of a delegation lead by Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, Dmitry Polyansky.

[9] In March 1960, the leader of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev visited the Kazakh SSR, and together with Kunaev, they toured the republic for 13 days.

[13] Under Kunaev, Kazakhstan became one of the three largest economies of the USSR, along with Russia and Ukraine, the traditional industrial centers of the country since Tsarist times.

[13] Source:[13] Throughout his time in office, Dinmukhamed Kunayev, paid special attention to important Kazakh cultural figures.

Among them: Gabit Musrepov, Serke Kozhamkulov, Ilyas Yesenberlin, Bibigul Tulegenova, Olzhas Suleimenov, Nurgisa Tlendiev, Roza Rymbaeva and many others.

As an Academian and former President of the Kazakh Academy of Science, Kunaev often relied on the position of the scientific community in solving state-important problems.

During the time of Yuri Andropov as General Secretary, at the personal request of Kunayev, foreign currency funds were allocated for the purchase of modern equipment from Western countries intended for industrial enterprises and scientific institutions of the Kazakh SSR.

He returned a number of areas in the south of the republic that had previously been transferred to the Uzbek SSR during the tenure of his predecessors under Khrushchev.

Source:[13] Kunaev was often trusted to lead government and parliamentary delegations of the USSR on official trips abroad, and to conduct negotiations with leaders of other states on behalf of the entire country.

Kunayev emphasizes in his book “From Stalin to Gorbachev”: “ Wherever I was, in whatever countries I was, I always tried to tell in as much detail as possible about my republic, what Kazakhstan is “rich and famous for”, about the traditions, customs of the Kazakh people, about its culture and science.

[14][13][15] Nevertheless, Askar became subject to biased and unobjective criticism from the Soviet newspaper, Pravda, and was dismissed as President of the Academy shortly after the party congress, to be replaced by Murat Aitkhozhin.

Dinmukhamed Kunayev, Nazarbayev's boss and Askar's brother, felt deeply angered and betrayed at the criticism at the Congress.

In addition, hundreds were convicted, received penalties, fired from work, expelled from school, and subjected to administrative fines.

However, this is untrue, as Kunaev volunteered to speak to the protestors, but was not allowed to by Second Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party, Oleg Miroshkin.

[citation needed] The well-known lawyer, academician Salyk Zimanov later stated that: "The reprisals against the "Kunaevites" began, including anyone who treated Kunaev D.A.

Some of Kunaev's neighbors periodically reported to Kolbin about Kunayev's life, which is indirectly and directly confirmed by notes stored in the archives.

Among those who did not completely cut off ties with Dimash Akhmedovich in the period 1986-1989 were close relatives, as well as poet Olzhas Suleimenov, journalist Gennady Tolmachev, personal doctor Akhat Mulyukov, A. Goryainov, A. Shabdarbayev and others.

[22] On the collapse of the Soviet Union and the new state status of Kazakhstan, Kunayev wrote: "Who argues: totalitarianism in all its forms and variants has truly outlived itself.

Now it is vitally important for Kazakhstan, without compromising its sovereignty, to eradicate the vices of the totalitarian system, to develop and strengthen business ties with all countries in every possible way...".

[22] On January 12, 1992, Dinmukhamed Kunayev turned 80 years old, receiving hundreds of letters and telegrams from all over Kazakhstan, including from academic scientists, cultural figures, famous athletes, military generals, major manufacturers, businessmen and significant representatives of other spheres.

He died in the evening of 22 August 1993 in the village of Akshi, Alakol district of Almaty region as a result of a heart attack.

In his book "From Stalin to Gorbachev" (1994), Kunaev himself referred to the data of the USSR State Statistics Committee, and he describes in detail his contribution to the development of living standards and the rise of the economy of the Kazakh SSR.

For great services to the development of the economy and the standard of living in the country, he was very popular among the Kazakh people and many still call the Kunaev era as the "Golden Age of Kazakhstan" to this day.