Semyon Prokopyevich Kadyshev

About museum

Semyon Prokopyevich Kadyshev – a Khakass haidji-nymahchi, a master performer of heroic tales, a storyteller, a chatkhanist, a tahpakhchi, and a member of the Union of Soviet Writers (1954). He was born into a large family of a hunter and storyteller and inherited the art of haidji from his father. Kadyshev knew more than thirty heroic epics, as well as numerous legends and fairy tales.

In 1954 Kadyshev became the first Khakass folklorist to be admitted to the Union of Soviet Writers. He represented Khakass folklore at major events, for example at the 25th Congress of Orientalists in Moscow in 1960. His literary legacy includes the books "Haidji Songs" (1962) and "The Glorious Path" (1965).

Kadyshev was a frequent winner of storytellers' competitions in the 1950s–1970s, receiving diplomas, prizes and other awards. He spent most of his life in the aul of Choohchyl in Khakassia. Among his honors are the Order of the Badge of Honour (1965), the medal "For the Development of Virgin and Fallow Lands", and an honorary diploma from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. Semyon Prokopyevich Kadyshev passed away on 30 June 1977.