Rauan Kenzhekhanuly
{{short description|Kazakh entrepreneur and NGO activist (born 1979)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rauan Kenzhekhanuly
| image = Rauan Kenzhekhan (cropped).jpg
| alt = Headshot of Rauan Kenzhekhanuly in an office. He is a middle-aged man wearing a morning suit.
| caption = Kenzhekhanuly in 2011
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|5|1|df=yes}}
| birth_place = East Kazakhstan Region, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Kazakh
| other_names =
| occupation = {{hlist|Wikipedia editor|politician}}
| years_active =
| education = {{ubl
| Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University (BA)
}}
| known_for = Founder of WikiBilim
| notable_works =
| party = {{#statements:P102}}
| awards = Wikipedian of the Year (2011)
}}
Rauan Kenzhekhanuly ({{langx|kk|Рауан Кенжеханұлы}}, {{IPA|kk|ɾɑwˈɑn kenʑeχɑnʊˈlə|pron}}; born 1 May 1979) is a Kazakh entrepreneur and NGO activist who was named the first Wikipedian of the Year in August 2011 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales at Wikimania.{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9764719/Wikipedia-co-founder-Jimmy-Wales-restricts-discussion-of-Tony-Blair-friendship.html |title=Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales restricts discussion of Tony Blair friendship |last=Williams |first=Christopher |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=24 December 2012 |access-date=24 June 2016 }}
Career
Rauan Kenzhekhanuly was born on 1 May 1979 in the East Kazakhstan Region, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union. In 2001, he graduated from Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University with a bachelor's degree in international affairs.
In 2005–2006, he worked as a Press secretary and Head of the Department of Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation.https://www.linkedin.com/in/rauan-kenzhekhanuly-b168b724/html {{Self-published source|date=June 2022}}
During his university years, he served as the Program Coordinator for National Debate Center Public Foundation and chief-editor of the Youth TV program "Azamat" on the Kazakh national TV channel Khabar. After he joined Khabar, he became the economic observer and National TV Agency's Moscow bureau chief in Russian Federation.{{cite web | url=http://wikibilim.kz/view-content/21/About-us.html |title=About us |work=WikiBilim |access-date=13 June 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120211022722/http://wikibilim.kz/view-content/21/About-us.html |archive-date=11 February 2012 }}
In 2010, he traveled to the United States to complete a one-year fellowship at Harvard University, where, that fall, he first became interested in editing Wikipedia upon taking the class "Media, Politics, and Power in the Digital Age".{{cite web |url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/wikipedian-of-the-year |title=First Ever "Wikipedian of the Year" Motivated by HKS Course |last=Davis |first=LiAnna |work=Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government |date=22 August 2012 |access-date=24 June 2016 |archive-date=22 August 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140822192919/http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/wikipedian-of-the-year |url-status=dead }} That same year, he was named one of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs's fellows for 2010–2011.{{cite web | url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/09/weatherhead-center-welcomes-2010-11-fellows/ | title=Weatherhead Center welcomes 2010-11 fellows | work=Harvard Gazette | date=16 September 2010 | accessdate=13 June 2017}} He later founded the nonprofit organization WikiBilim, which aims to expand the availability of free Kazakh-language information on the Internet. In 2014, he was named deputy governor of the Kyzylorda Region.{{cite web | url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72831 | title=Wikipedia Founder Distances Himself from Kazakhstan PR Machine | work=EurasiaNet | date=2 April 2015 | accessdate=24 June 2016 | author=Michel, Casey}}
He also served as the founding director of the Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs, which was formally established on 12 November 2014{{cite web | url=http://www.eurasiancouncilforeignaffairs.eu/the-council/about/ | title=About | work=Eurasian Council on Foreign Affairs | accessdate=24 June 2016}} with a grant from the Kazakh government.{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/jack-straw-criticised-for-accepting-part-time-job-paid-for-by-kazakhstan-10057426.html | title=Jack Straw criticised for accepting part-time job paid for by Kazakhstan | work=The Independent | date=19 February 2015 | accessdate=24 June 2016 | author=Green, Chris}}
Public activities
In 2016, he founded the non-profit organization Bilim Foundation with the mission to set up a national program of adolescence suicide prevention and developing lifeskills.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
In 2017, he was appointed as the chief of commission for the national project "translating 100 textbooks for HE to Kazakh language".
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons cat-inline}}
{{Wikimedian of the Year|state=autocollapse}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenzhekhanuly, Rauan}}
Category:21st-century Kazakhstani politicians
Category:Wikimedians of the Year
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Kazakhstani emigrants to the United States