“What do we know about Crimea?” is a 6-episode podcast exploring the history of Crimea and the Crimean Tatars to better understand the peninsula's past, its ties to Ukraine, and how that past influences us today.

Episode 3. Crimean renaissance: how Ismail Gasprinsky changed history and education

How did colonized Crimea become a center of Muslim modernization? How did Gasprinsky’s legacy shape the Crimean Tatar national movement? And why do his ideas remain so relevant today?

In this video, Svitlana Kaiuk, PhD in History, explores 19th-century Crimea — an era marked by imperial colonization and mass migrations of Crimean Tatars, alongside the emergence of a new intellectual movement.

At the center of the discussion is Ismail Gasprinsky, an educator and reformer who viewed education, native language, and the press as primary tools for modernization. We discuss his innovative teaching methods, the Terjiman newspaper, women's education, Bakhchysarai as an intellectual capital, and the far-reaching impact of his ideas well beyond Crimea.

This podcast was created by Crimea Vox with the support of International Media Support (IMS).