Today an official opening of two exhibitions has taken place in the Tuvan Museum of the Study of Local Lore, named after Aldan Maadyr (60 Hercules). Both exhibitions are devoted to the 80th anniversary of world-famous researcher Sevyan Vanshtein. One is made up of the museum artifacts collected by Vainshtein in the course of his expedition to Todzha district (Tuva's Northeast) half a century ago. The second one is Todzha in pictures taken 40 years after by Brian Donahoe, speaker of Tuvan, whose thesis at Indiana University deals with indigenous natural resource management among the nomadic reindeer herders of northeastern Tuva. In his opening speech, Doctor of History Mongush Kenin-Lopsan highly appreciated Vainshtein's contribution to Tuva's study. He spoke of his hard life during childhood and student years--Vainshtein's father was sentenced to death in Stalin's time.
Upon his arrival to Tuva, young Vainshtein was appointed director of the Tuvan museum and had worked there from 1951 to 1955. He lived in the museum and their (he married Alla, music teacher in a Kyzyl school) room was a place where people always crowded.
Mongush Kenin-Lopsan underlined that it was Vainshtein who was the first to write about Tuvan shamans, although it was not very much approved of.
A scientific conference devoted to Sevyan Vainshtein's jubileum will start on September 5.