Profile of Galsan Tschinag

Galsan Tschinag is a singer, storyteller, novelist, poet, and Tuvan chieftan. His published short stories, novels, and poetry reveal his existence as a modern day nomad, living partly in primeval society and partly in the modern world.

Tschinag was born in Mongolia in 1944, the youngest son of a nomadic cattle herder. From 1962-1966, he studied German at the University of Leipzig, which became the language of his literary work – his native tongue, Tuvinian, had no script. He later taught at the University of Ulaanbaatar and worked for some time as a journalist. In 1994, as chief of the Tuvans, he led his people, scattered in the course of the last century, in a huge caravan back to their original home in the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia. The journey of 2.000 kilometers, included 130 heavily-laden camels, and 300 horses, sheep and other animals.

Tschinag lives alternately in Altai, Ulaanbaatar, and Europe. His publications include Ein tuwinische Geschichte (A Tuvan Tale) ; Der siebzehnte Tag (The Seventeenth Day) ; Nimmer werd ich dich zähmen können (I’ll Never Be Able to Tame You) ; and Die Graue Erde (The Grey Earth). Tschiang was awarded the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize in 1992, and the Puchheimer Leserpreis in 1995.

• Weblinks
• The Poetry of Galsan Tschinag