People
Semyon Liberman and university sport
A physical education department, a student team and colleagues’ memories.
Published
This is a translation. The original is Русский. Language review: not performed by a native speaker.
Semyon Liberman headed the physical education department at Kazakh State University (KazGU) from 1971 to 1990. A note accompanying Lyalya Akhmetova’s memoir describes him as a Master of Sport in boxing, an Honoured Coach and an Honoured Cultural Worker of the Kazakh SSR.
From the end of 1981, Akhmetova led the student trade union. The department and the union worked together at a sports and recreation camp in Boztyri on Lake Issyk-Kul. Department lecturers came there in the summer, while the union was responsible for the camp season.
Another shared responsibility was the top-division women’s basketball team “Universitet”, captained by Nadezhda Olkhova. Akhmetova recalls that Liberman directed the sporting work, while the union paid the players and provided equipment and travel to matches.
In 1998, Akhmetova met Liberman in Israel. They talked about KazGU and mutual acquaintances. According to her, after moving there Liberman trained athletes, wrote for Russian-language newspapers and corresponded with friends in Kazakhstan.