«I Can't Be Idle for an Hour, without My Usual Urgent Business…»

The article presents the results of study of the life, scientific and creative work of I.B. Shinzhin. He comprises many talents — he is a famous ltay storyteller-kaichy, folklore field researcher, epos expert, writer, teacher,connoisseur of folk culture. He devoted most of his life to science: he conducted field research of ltay folklore, collecting a large amount of factual material; he presented the results of his research in monographs andscientific articles; he processed and prepared for publication many folklore works. I.B. Shinzhin was engaged in community work on popularization of ltay folklore, storytelling and throat singing. Thanks to the “School of Young Storytellers” created by him, the fading traditions of ltay storytelling were revived. s a writer he published several books of poems, short stories and novels popular among readers. I. B. Shinzhin became a talented educator, respected by his students and colleagues. The scope of his work and scientific interests have great prospects for further research, as well as his multifaceted personality, which deserves an independent study.