The 80th anniversary of Vladimir Sangi – Nivkhi classic

Thou shalt not reckon the heavens

They’ve no count, no end and no beginning:

Gods dwell somewhere there, thunder sleeps over there

The souls of departed know not of the sorrow…

The Man from Ykhmyph

On 18 March 2015 Vladimir Sangi, the patriarch of Nivkh literature, celebrates his 80th anniversary. In honour of this date, Sakhalin Government and Sakhalin Energy are rolling out the special project with a series of events to be held both in Russia and abroad. Updates will be available on this page.

Vladimir Sangi is the first writer of the indigenous people of the Sakhalin Island which identify themselves as “Nivgun”. When Sangi’s first works were published, Konstantin Fedin, the famous Soviet writer, noted that “there is a singer of Nivkh people that opens up to other nations the heart and soul of his people". Throughout his creative career, Vladimir Sangi always adhered to this principle; his works feature a lot of autobiographical and documentary materials, and written with great respect and reverence for his people. They reflect the relationship between the past, present and future of ancient Nivkh people, depict their national character, way of thinking, distinctive vision of the world, life, traditions, rituals, language – all that may be irretrievably forgotten by modern civilization if not recorded for posterity.

Works
Nivkhskye Legendy (Nivkh Legends), 1961
Solyonye Bryzgi (Salt Spindrift), 1962
Semipyoraya Ptitsa (The Bird with Seven Feathers), 1964, 1967
Lozhniy Gon (False Estrus), 1965, 1966
Perviy Vystrel (The First Shot), 1965
Legendy Ykhmifa (Legends of Ykhmif), 1967, 1974
Zhenitba Kevongov (Marriage of the Kevongs), 1975, 1977
Mesyats runnogo khoda (The Month of the Run), 1985
Puteshestvye v Stoibische Lunvo (Journey to Lunvo Camp), 1985
Chelovek Ykhmifa (The Man from Ykhmif), 1986
Morskaya Poema (Sea Poem), 1988
Epos Sakhalinskikh Nivkhov (The Epic of Sakhalin Nivkh People), 2013

Public Awards
Member of the Union of Writers of the USSR (Russia)
Member of the United Nations ECOSOC International League for Human Rights
Honoured Worker of Culture of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia, Russia)
Medal for Valorous Labour
Badge of Honor Order
Order of Friendship
State Prize of the Russian Federation Government
Prize of the Governor of the Sakhalin oblast
Award of the Sakhalin Cultural Fund

Video


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Sakhalin Energy published selected works by Vladimir Sangi to celebrate his 80th birthday

Sakhalin Energy handed “space present” to Vladimir Sangi

Sakhalin Energy and Russian State Library finished the project of digitizing texts of Vladimir Sangi

Meeting of Vladimir Sangi and reading audience at Ethnomir (World of Ethnics)