Rinchen, 1905-1977

Byambyn Rinchen (Mongolian: Бямбын Ринчен; 21 November 1905 – 4 March 1977), also known as Rinchen Bimbayev (Russian: Ринчен Бимбаев), was a Mongolian scholar and writer. He was a researcher of Mongolia's language, literature, and history, and a recorder and preserver of the country's cultural heritage, publishing many shamanist and folklore texts. Rinchen was also a prolific poet, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and translator, authoring the screenplay for Tsogt taij (1945), Mongolia's first historical feature film, and the trilogy Rays of Dawn (1951–1955, revised 1971), its first novel set during the 1921 revolution. Rinchen was often criticized by the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party for his "nationalism", but was spared in the Stalinist purges of the 1930s.