This article examines the life, government, and socio-political activities of N.Nurmakov, one of Kazakhstan's leaders, in the 1920s and 1930s. Using archival documents, it explores his contribution to the creation of the national judicial system, justice agencies, and the prosecutor's office. He was actively involved in economic reforms, including the relocation of the capital from Orenburg to Kyzyl-Orda, and from Kyzyl-Orda to Almaty.

Archival materials clearly demonstrate that in addressing the complex problems of the 1920s and 1930s, N.Nurmakov's primary consideration was national interests.

The article devotes considerable attention to N.Nurmakov's publications in periodicals. They reveal the young republican leader's practical qualities and broad outlook, the prospects for the socioeconomic and cultural development of the national outskirts, and his faith in the future of the Kazakh people. N.Nurmakov's arguments and facts regarding the theory and practice of socialist construction in the republic are of undoubted interest to modern researchers.

The article reveals the initial stage of the Great Terror in the USSR. N.Nurmakov was executed on September 27, 1937, the same day as A.Bukeikhanov, the political leader of the Alash movement. Close relatives also fell victim to the terror: his father, N.Taukebaev, his wife, Z.Nurmakov, and his younger brother, K.Nurmakov.

The road to rehabilitation was long and arduous. He was rehabilitated in 1956.