Kenin-Lopsan was born on 10 April 1925, at Chash-Tal,
Tuva, Chöön-Khemtchik district to a family of Bora-Khöö. His grandparents/parents were
nomads, cattle breeders, herders, blacksmiths as well as storytellers and shamans. Kenin-Lopsan was educated at ground school in
Chadan, later on colleges in Kyzyl. He studied philology at
Leningrad (today St. Petersburg) University and received a master's degree in 'Eastern Sciences'. Being back in Tuva, he served as a teacher of
Tuvan as well as of Russian language and literature besides working as an editor for a publishing company in Tuva. Among his first books was
The Big Way (1956) as well as other novels like
The Currents of the Big River (1965),
Dance of Capricorn and
The Yurt of the Horse Herder. He won several Russian and Tuvan prizes. Throughout his whole life, he collected stories from his kinsmen, storytellers, shamans, workers, herders and poets. For his research on shamanism, he was persecuted during
Soviet times. His grandmother shamaness Kuular Khandyshap died after being imprisoned by
Gulag for 15 years. Kenin-Lopsan died on 10 February 2022, at the age of 96. ==Publications==