Manshuk Mametova was born on October 23, 1922 in the Zhaskus village of the West Kazakhstan region of the modern Bokey-Orda region in the Zhensigali family. At birth, she was given the name Mansia. The girl was affectionately called “monshagylym” – “bead” for her big brown eyes, mobility, agility. When asked what her name was, she answered: “Manshuk”. So this name remained for her – Manshuk.

From the age of 6, her father’s cousin, Akhmet Mametovand his wife Amina took her in their family. AkhmetMametov was a doctor, as well as an open public figure, published newspapers and wrote the  poetries. Once he worked as deputy governor in Semey, Uralsk. In 1937 Akhmet returned to Almaty. At that time, the Mametovfamily was subjected to repression. Akhmet, director of a research institute, was arrested and sentenced to death. Manshuk entered the working faculty of the Almaty Medical Institute and settled in a hostel. Manshukcompleted her three-year education in two years and in 1937 entered the medical institute in Almaty. At that time, she dropped out of school as the daughter of an enemy of the people, worked during the day at the People’s Commissariat of Health, and at night worked as the executive secretary of the People’s Commissariat, and also went in for sports. Manshuk was one of the first to enter World War II. For this, Manshuk visited the district Komsomol and the military registration and enlistment office several times a year. Initially, there was an unjustified reason for “lack of military training.” Despite studying at a medical school, she attended nursing refresher courses. She also enrolled in a military training battalion. She also learned to shoot a pistol. She had experience in preparing reports for the Soviet Information Bureau and specializes in the work of agitators. She wrote a letter to Moscow asking for a front. Manshuk went to the front for two main reasons: the first was that she did not believe that his father, who loved his country and enjoyed the respect of the people, was an “enemy of the people”, fought to justify his father’s name and fulfill the child’s duty, and the second – destroy the enemy.

       Manshuk has been waiting for a document on voluntary participation in the war for a year. Suddenly she was summoned by the military commissariat and she hurriedly set off. Manshuk Mametova was a member of the 100th rifle brigade formed in Kazakhstan, in August 13, 1942, she took up arms and joined the ranks of the Defenders of the Fatherland. It consisted of 4,890 military personnel, including 2 Kazakh doctors Maryam Sarlybayeva and Manshuk Mametova.

   Manshuk was able to cope with military difficulties together with the soldiers: she crawled on the ground, swam in the water, went through a dense forest and learned to shoot from a machine gun. She was recognized as the best machine gunner of the 21st Infantry Division. She was an example of courage that the division fighters were proud of her. On October 15, 1943, at an altitude of 173.7 points at the Izocha station, a fierce battle took place for the city of Nevel, Pskov region. In the last battle for Nevel, machine gunner Manshuk Mametova stepped forward with a machine gun and began to destroy the Germans in a counterattack.

At that moment, one of the flying mines destroyed the Manshuk machine gun and seriously wounded the brave girl. Manshuk, who fainted for a short time, immediately regained consciousness, bandaged her head and rushed back to her machine gun. Manshuk fired a machine gun at the enemy army, blocking the enemy’s path and prompting the soldiers to move forward. When her comrades-in-arms, who saw Manshuk with a bandaged head on the top of the hill, said: “Manshuk, come with us, let’s take you to the medical battalion, you bleed” she answered: “How many people are behind?” Go ahead, and I will block their path. “After the last group of our soldiers passed, Manshuk gathered his last strength and set the machine gun on a high hill. Then he bit off the trigger and started shooting at the enemy, at that moment a group of soldiers jumped out of the thick reeds. enemy and rushed forward. Manshuk started firing from a machine gun. But she didn’t hit as accurately as before. Thus, Manshuk later fought off the enemy on the ridge. Without letting go of her tender fingers, the machine gunner’s life ended like a thunderstorm on October 15, 1943.

Senior sergeant Manshuk Mametova, a machine gunner of the 100th rifle division, fired a machine gun until her last breath in the battle for the city of Nevel. By the resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on March 1, 1944, Manshuk Mametova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for her courage in performing combat missions of the commander on the battlefield with the German invaders. ManshukMametova was buried in the central park of Nevel.

   Manshuk Mametova is the pride of the Kazakh people, who performed a heroic deed in the name of the independence of the whole Motherland.

The public association “Kos Shynar” and the leadership of the secondary vocational school have been negotiating for a long time about the creation of the Museum of the Hero of the Soviet Union Manshuk Mametova on the basis of the Aktobe Higher Medical College. This idea was born on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the Victory.

On May 6, 2010, Manshuk’s younger sister, 73-year-old Sholpan Mametova, and the director of the M. MametovaMemorial Museum in Uralsk, Svetlana Bektenova, were present at the opening ceremony of the museum. The secretary of the city maslikhat Sulupan Shintasova, the director of the college Vadim Yugai, the chairman of the public association “Kos Shynar” Galymzhan Baiderbes, teachers and students of the medical college also took part in this ceremony.

Sholpan Mametova shared a story about Manshuk, which was told by the mother of the heroine Amina Suleimenova:

“Once Manshuk and his family were crossing the icy river in a sleigh. The sled overturned and everyone fell onto the ice. Manshuk was about five years old, but she did not cry or make a sound.

In the future, no matter how hard it was, she did not show her pain to anyone, ”said Sholpan Mametova. She adhered to this character all her life.

Colleagues from Uralsk presented the Aktobe Museum with a reproduction of the diorama “The Last Battle of Manshuk”, the hero’s burial ground in the Pskov region, books, photos about Manshuk.

  The main concept of the Manshuk Mametova museum at the Aktobe Higher Medical College is the heroic fate of the daughter of the Kazakh people.

A special role in patriotic education belongs to military history, in connection with which the young generation participates in the labor and military exploits of its people, on an equal basis with its best representatives, learns from the heroic examples of our great ancestors. The museum contains exhibits, from military mortars to children’s paintings on military themes, testifying to the heroism of the people of Kazakhstan.

​In the exhibition hall of the Manshuk MametovaMuseum of the Aktobe Higher Medical College, our students will learn about the heroes of Aktobe, the heroes of the USSR and the peoples of the region who defended their Motherland during the Great Patriotic War.

The Manshuk Mametova Museum, created at the AktobeHigher Medical College, plays an important role in the patriotic education of the younger generation. The role of the Manshuk Mametova Museum in the spiritual and moral development and education of the individual is undeniable.

By the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 26, 2017 No. 302 Aktobe Medical College was named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Manshuk Mametova.

​Museum of Manshuk Mametova of Aktobe Higher Medical College works together with the search group “Carnation” in Nevel, as well as with the search group “Victoria” in Orenburg, Memorial Museum of ManshukMametova in Uralsk, Pedagogical College of ManshukMametova in Kyzylorda, West Kazakhstan region, ethnographic museum, with the Ordynsky reserve