Pyak Vladimir Mytovich

15.04.1941.- 14.04.2015

a bearer and performer of Nenets and Khanty folklore

Vladimir Mytovich was born in a camp located near the village of Darko-Gorshkovo, Surgutsky District, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous-Okrug – Yugra. In 1952, his parents moved to the Beryozovsky District, and he continued his studies at the Kazym boarding school. After serving in the army, Vladimir Mytovich worked all his life as a reindeer herder in the state farm "Kazymsky". He took over the tales in the Khanty language from the expert of Khanty folklore Sengepov Pyotr Ivanovich. They worked together in a reindeer husbandry brigade. At that time, the reindeer herders did not yet have camping tents, and they often stayed for the night in the open air. The rules of survival in the harsh tundra were taught by Sengepov Pyotr Ivanovich: "If you sit silently by the fire, you will freeze.Watch the flames of the fire, and you will see how it plays merrily, as if telling something, and you will never be silent in response." Vladimir Mytovich knows many legends and fairy tales.