Yevgeny Kychanov

Evgenij Ivanovich Kychanov (Russian: Евгений Иванович Кычанов; also transcribed as Yevgeny Ivanovich Kychanov, 22 June 1932 – 24 May 2013[1]) was a Soviet-Russian orientalist, an expert on the Tangut people and their mediaeval Xi Xia Empire.

He did his graduate work at the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, and in 1960 he defended his PhD thesis on the Western Xia (Tangut Empire).

[2] Kychanov is the author of around 300 articles and books on the history and culture of peoples of China and Inner Asia, including a number of pioneering research papers on the Xi Xia state and translations from the Tangut language, summarizing works on the history of Tibet and nomadic civilizations of Inner Asia, as well as popular books about Tibet, Genghis Khan and other steppe leaders.

[3] In June 2012 a conference in his honour, entitled The Tanguts in Central Asia, was held at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts to mark Kychanov's 80th birthday.

A collection of 34 papers written by scholars from Russia, China, Japan and other countries was published as a Festschrift with the same title.