The St. Petersburg Toponymy Commission decided to name the Centre for Promotion of Family Education 4 on Yaroslavsky Avenue after Toktogon Altybasarova from Kyrgyzstan who took care of 150 children who were evacuated from besieged Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War, the press office of the Government of St. Petersburg reported.
The initiative to name the institution in honour of Altybasarova was put forward by Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin. Governor Alexander Beglov emphasised that a commemorative exhibition will be arranged at the Centre building together with the Museum of the Defence and Siege of Leningrad.
The Centre on Yaroslavsky Avenue is historically known as one of the oldest institutions in the city. It was used as a warehouse and hospital during the Great Patriotic War, and then became a home for the children of military servants after the blockade was lifted.
Toktogon Altybasarova passed away in 2015. A stele with a bas-relief depicting the Peter and Paul Fortress and the intersecting searchlight beams is installed in her native Kurmenty village in Kyrgyzstan.
