Research in Focus

We are delighted to share that, from 1 to 28 August 2026, Olga Smolyak conducted archival and field research in Almaty, Kazakhstan, building on discoveries made during her earlier research trip to Bishkek.

Working in archives in Almaty, Olga identified a rich collection of materials that complement her findings from Kyrgyzstan. These documents illuminate the complex relationships between resort administrations, republican public health authorities, and Communist Party institutions, revealing the multiple layers of governance that shaped the development of sanatoria in Soviet Kazakhstan.

An important part of the research involved work in the National Library and specialist research libraries, where Olga examined periodicals devoted to public health, resort medicine, and physical therapies. These publications provide striking evidence of the so-called 'Pavlovian turn' of the early 1950s. Across a wide range of journals, references to Ivan Pavlov's work became increasingly prominent, with Pavlovian concepts serving as an essential marker of scientific legitimacy in discussions of health, treatment, and healthy living. The materials demonstrate how his ideas came to shape both medical research and public understandings of health throughout the Soviet Union.

Thanks to collaborations with the Ch. Ch. Valikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology, Olga also conducted fieldwork at Kapal-Arasan Sanatorium, the focus of her research in Kazakhstan. Located around 400 kilometres from Almaty, Kapal-Arasan occupies a unique place in the histories of migration, exploration, and empire. The area attracted Russian settlers after 1861 and was visited by prominent figures including Chokan Valikhanov, Pyotr Semenov-Tian-Shansky, and the British traveller Thomas Atkinson.

Although founded in the 1880s, the resort developed slowly and remained largely inactive after the 1917 Revolution. Its fortunes changed in the 1930s when it was incorporated into the Soviet all-Union health resort network. Like Yssyk-Ata in Kyrgyzstan, it operated according to standardised Soviet treatment programmes and administrative models.

Kapal-Arasan reached its peak between the 1960s and 1980s under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, when new facilities reflected contemporary approaches to resort planning and architecture. Today, much of the complex lies abandoned, yet it remains important to local communities. Visitors continue to use its thermal hydrogen sulphide and radon springs, while residents often draw on the mineral-rich waters for everyday tasks such as washing clothes.

The trip also enabled a comparison with Alma-Arasan, a sanatorium established in 1931 just 25 kilometres from Almaty. Unlike the remote Kapal-Arasan, Alma-Arasan has benefited from its proximity to the city and developed into a hub for tourism and outdoor recreation. Together, the two sites illustrate how geography and accessibility have shaped the contrasting post-Soviet trajectories of Kazakhstan's health resorts.

The findings from this research trip will contribute to a forthcoming co-authored article on the administration of resorts in Kazakhstan during the 1930s, a research presentation at the Centre for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology, and a chapter in the project's edited volume.