Ilias Borahanskyi was a prominent Crimean Tatar cultural figure, publisher, and calligrapher. He made a significant contribution to the development of Turkic publishing and to preserving the national identity of the Crimean Tatars during periods of imperial oppression. Born on April 22 in Bakhchisarai to a noble family, Borahanskyi left for the Ottoman Empire at the age of fifteen, where he spent seven years studying publishing and calligraphy in Istanbul. In 1874, he graduated from Istanbul University, after which he returned to Crimea and devoted himself to translation, engraving, and eventually to publishing Eastern texts.

In 1893, he founded the first Muslim printing house in Crimea — the Eastern Electro-Printing House, which produced books in Arabic script in Arabic, Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Persian, and Russian. His printing house was not only a technical innovation, but also a true cultural center where works of Eastern classics, historical treatises, religious texts, fiction, and translations were published.

Alongside his publishing work, Ilias Borahanskyi taught Turkish language and Eastern calligraphy, supporting talented youth from Crimea and other Muslim regions of the empire by providing them with employment and opportunities for self-realization. His printing house became a launchpad for many future intellectuals, including Osman Akchokrakly and Ismail Lemanov.

In 1911, due to an imperial ban on Muslim printing, Borahanskyi was forced to curtail his activities, but he continued to publish scholarly works by Orientalists. During the years of the Civil War, he supported the Bashkir Cavalry Division by publishing a Tatar-language newspaper, Salavat, for them. In 1920, he moved to Sterlitamak, where he worked in publishing until the end of his life.

Ilias Borahanskyi combined traditional Eastern intellectual heritage with modern printing technologies, contributing to the spread of knowledge and the preservation of national identity during a difficult historical period.