Ilyas Zhansugurov was born on May 14 in 1894, in the fourth aul of present Aksusky district in region of Almaty, in family of the semi-nomadic peasant middling person.

In 1920 arrived on Tashkent on the courses on training of teachers which were organized especially for the Kazakh and Kyrgyz youth, and after their end in 1921 he worked as the teacher at the elementary school which for the first time opened in the aul of Beltogan of Aksusky district. Also taught Kazakh and the Kazakh literature on preparatory office of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz institute. In 1924 he became the director of this institute, and within a year he was given appointment to the post of the manager in Almaty provincial department of the higher education.

In 1925 Ilyas went off to Institut of journalism in Moscow. In 1928 after graduation he worked as the literary employee of the «Еңбекші қазақ» newspaper ("The Kazakh worker") which was published in Kzyl-Orda.

In 1930-1932 I. Dzhansugurov was the literary employee of the Kazakh drama theater. During this time he performed as the literary consultant of a film sketch "The steppe bylina" - the first film which was shoted by representatives of the Kazakh people.

From 1932 to 1935 Ilyas served as a post chairman of the Writers' Union of Kazakhstan. In 1936-1937, up to the arrest, he was assigned as the editor of department of poetry of the Kazakh publishing house of fiction.

In his short creative life Ilyas was managed to leave many-sided and very valuable literary heritage. He wrote literature practically in different genres, from under his feather verses and poems, feuilletons, stories and sketches, novels and plays, critiques and musical reviews violently streamed. Together with the own compositions of Ilyas as the writer paid huge attention and to the literary translation. Constantly, since 1923 he was engaged in the translations of the Russian classics.

The RGP central scientific library "Gylym ordasy" was organized a book exhibition to I. Dzhansugurov's 125 anniversary. Literature was about him, about his life and works by the writer-specialist in folklore, the translator are presented at an exhibition.