When the Impossible Became Possible: Kyrgyz Women and the Soviet Transformation

The article tells the story of Kyrgyz surgeon Kakish Ryskulova, who became the first female surgeon in Central Asia thanks to the educational and health institutions established by the Soviet state. The author argues that her success was not merely individual talent, but the product of a complete social structure provided by the state, and criticizes the liberal discourse that focuses on 'individual success'. It also reviews other female models such as Urkuya Salieva, who was assassinated.

The article examines the story of Kyrgyz surgeon Kakish Ryskulova (1918-?), who became the first female surgeon in Central Asia, as a typical case of the social transformation brought about by the Soviet project. The author argues that Ryskulova's success was not merely the result of individual talent, but was made possible by a complete social structure that included boarding schools, free universities, public hospitals, and scientific research institutions established by the Soviet state. The article criticizes the liberal discourse that focuses on 'individual success', emphasizing that personal will needs a path to walk on. The article also reviews other models such as Fatima Nurgazieva, the first Kyrgyz health minister, and Zurakan Kainazarova, a Hero of Socialist Labor. It dedicates space to Urkuya Salieva, the communist activist who was assassinated in 1934 at the age of twenty-three, considering her an example of the price paid by pioneering women. The article acknowledges the contradictions in the Soviet experience, such as its sometimes coercive nature and the persistence of male discrimination, but asserts that actual material liberation did occur.