Yuvan Nikolayevich Shestalov russian: Юван Николаевич Шесталов;(1937-2011) was a

Mansi Mansi may refer to: People * Mansi people, an indigenous people living in Tyumen Oblast, Russia ** Mansi language * Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1692–1769), Italian theologian, scholar, historian and archbishop * Kate Mansi, American actress born in ...

writer from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Life and work

Shestalov was born 22 June 1937 in Kamratka village, Beryozovsky District, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Shestalov is arguably the best known author in the

Mansi language The Mansi languages are spoken by the Mansi people in Russia along the Ob River and its tributaries, in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Sverdlovsk Oblast. Traditionally considered a single language, they constitute a branch of the Ura ...

although he mostly wrote in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. His work in Mansi and Russian has been widely translated and he worked actively to preserve his native language and culture. He also became a laureate of several Soviet and Russian literary prizes.Скончался Юван Шесталов
/ref>Шесталов Юван (Иван) Николаевич. Культурное наследие Югры
/ref> The first poetic book by Yu. Shestalov in the Mansi language "Makem At" ("Breath of the Earth") was published in 1958 in

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas i ...

. The first really successful work was "The Pagan Poem" (1971), in which the author tried to translate into the language of poetry the ritual culture of his people with its actions and multi-layered spiritual content. After the breakup of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1991, he converted to

shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...

. Shestalov died on 5 November 2011, aged 75.

References

External links

Obituary
1937 births 2011 deaths Mansi people Russian writers Soviet writers {{russia-writer-stub