Lykov family
The Lykov family was a Russian Old Believer family whose decades of isolation in the Siberian taiga became the subject of journalism, books, and documentary media.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
The Lykov family was a Russian family belonging to the Old Believer tradition, a religious movement that separated from the Russian Orthodox Church after seventeenth-century reforms. The family became internationally known because six members lived for roughly four decades in partial isolation from wider society in a remote area of southern Siberia. The family’s withdrawal began in 1936, when Karp Lykov and his wife, Akulina, left their home region with their children Savin and Natalia after Karp’s brother was killed by a Soviet patrol. The family traveled eastward and eventually established a home in an otherwise uninhabited upland near the Yerinat River, within the Abakan River basin. Two additional children, Dmitry and Agafia, were born after the family had entered isolation. Their settlement was approximately 250 kilometres from the nearest settlement, and the family lived through a combination of subsistence agriculture, hunting, gathering, animal husbandry, and improvised production of basic necessities. The family’s isolation was not absolute. Local people and later geologists had some contact with them, and their existence was reported in the Soviet press. Their location was discovered in 1978 by a helicopter pilot transporting a geological survey group. The geologists established contact, but the Lykovs chose not to return to ordinary society. Their circumstances attracted attention because of the contrast between their religiously motivated withdrawal and the severe environmental and material constraints of Siberian wilderness. The family suffered repeated losses. Akulina died of starvation in 1961 during a period of acute food shortage. In 1981, Savin and Natalia died after illnesses associated with the family’s harsh diet, while Dmitry died of pneumonia. Karp died in 1988. Since then, Agafia Lykova has been the only surviving member of the immediate family. She continued living in the taiga, maintaining a small homestead with goats and chickens and constructing and repairing shelter in the remote settlement. Agafia’s life has periodically brought her into contact with helpers, journalists, geologists, filmmakers, and medical services. She lived for many years with the geologist Yerofei Sedov, who died in 2015. That year, Georgy Danilov came to assist her after responding to an open request for help. In 2016, Agafia was transported by air to a hospital in Tashtagol for treatment connected with deterioration affecting her lower limbs. She later returned to her remote home. The family’s story entered broader public awareness through reports by journalist Vasily Peskov, including articles published in Komsomolskaya Pravda in 1982. Peskov later developed the material into the 1994 book Lost in the Taiga: One Russian Family’s Fifty-Year Struggle for Survival and Religious Freedom in the Siberian Wilderness. The account generated international interest and led to further documentary projects and proposed adaptations. The Lykov family is therefore best understood not as a commercial brand but as a historically documented family and a widely circulated cultural subject associated with religious dissent, voluntary isolation, subsistence survival, and life in the Siberian wilderness.
History
The Lykov family belonged to the Russian Old Believer tradition and became known for maintaining a remote, partially isolated way of life in the Siberian taiga. Their withdrawal from ordinary society began in 1936, when Karp Lykov and Akulina Lykova left their home region with their children, Savin and Natalia. The move followed the killing of Karp’s brother by a Soviet patrol and reflected the family’s perception that their religious way of life was under threat. The family traveled eastward and eventually settled near the Yerinat River, in the Abakan River basin of southern Siberia. Their home was situated in an upland area of the Abakan Range, within what is now Tashtypsky District of Khakassia, and was far from established settlements. Dmitry and Agafia were born after the family had withdrawn into the taiga. The six family members survived through a difficult mixture of small-scale cultivation, hunting, gathering, fishing where possible, and the keeping of animals. Their material circumstances were severe, and they had limited access to manufactured tools, food, medicine, and information from the outside world. The isolation was partial rather than complete. The family had occasional contact with people in the surrounding region, and reports about them circulated before sustained outside contact was established. In 1978, a helicopter pilot accompanying a geological survey group discovered the family’s location. Geologists subsequently visited and developed a relationship with the Lykovs. Despite this contact, the family did not choose to abandon its settlement or move back into society. Food scarcity and disease shaped the family’s later history. Akulina died of starvation in 1961 after sacrificing her own share of food during a period of severe shortage. In 1981, three of the children died. Savin and Natalia suffered kidney failure, described in accounts as probably connected to the consequences of their harsh and nutritionally limited diet. Dmitry died of pneumonia. Karp died in 1988, leaving Agafia as the sole surviving member of the immediate family. Agafia continued to live at the remote homestead. Over time, she built and maintained a more stable dwelling and kept goats and chickens. For eighteen years she lived with the geologist Yerofei Sedov, who died on 3 May 2015. In the same year, Georgy Danilov, a man from Orenburg, came to help after responding to an open letter in which Agafia sought assistance. In 2016, Agafia was evacuated by air to a hospital in Tashtagol because of a condition involving deterioration in the cartilage of her lower limbs. She later returned to her home in the wilderness. Public interest in the Lykovs expanded after journalist Vasily Peskov wrote reports about the family for Komsomolskaya Pravda in 1982. His 1994 book Lost in the Taiga: One Russian Family’s Fifty-Year Struggle for Survival and Religious Freedom in the Siberian Wilderness brought the story to a much wider audience and became a bestseller in France. Film rights were acquired by director Jean-Jacques Annaud, and later documentaries examined Agafia’s life, the history of Russian Old Believers, the logistics of reaching her settlement, and her relationships with people who entered her isolated world. The family has also influenced later cultural work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, writer Elizabeth Gilbert reportedly drew inspiration from accounts of the Lykovs for the novel The Snow Forest. Publication was subsequently placed on indefinite hold amid criticism, particularly from Ukrainians, concerning the planned release of a Russia-related book during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As of the latest information in the supplied reference material, Agafia remains the only surviving immediate family member and continues to be associated with the remote taiga homestead.
- 2019
Agafia gives filmed interviews
[1]A series of interviews records Agafia discussing her life, contacts with outsiders, and practical aspects of taiga existence.
- 2016
Agafia is evacuated for medical treatment
[1]Agafia is flown to a hospital in Tashtagol for treatment and later returns to her remote home.
- 2015
Yerofei Sedov dies and Georgy Danilov arrives
[1]After Sedov’s death, Georgy Danilov comes to assist Agafia in response to her request for help.
- 1994
Peskov publishes Lost in the Taiga
[1]Vasily Peskov publishes a book-length account of the family’s isolation, survival, and religious background, which gains international attention.
- 1988
Karp Lykov dies
[1]The death of Karp leaves Agafia as the only surviving member of the immediate family.
- 1982
Vasily Peskov reports on the family
[1]Journalist Vasily Peskov publishes a series of reports about the Lykovs in Komsomolskaya Pravda, expanding public knowledge of their story.
- 1981
Three children die
[1]Savin and Natalia die after kidney failure, while Dmitry dies of pneumonia.
- 1978
Geological survey workers discover the family
[1]A helicopter pilot flying a geological group into the region discovers the family’s remote location, leading to sustained contact with geologists.
- 1961
Akulina dies during a food shortage
[1]Akulina dies of starvation after giving up food so that her children can survive.
- 1944
Agafia is born
[1]Agafia, the family’s youngest child and eventual sole survivor of the immediate family, is born during the period of isolation.
Products and positioning
Not a commercial brand. The Lykov family is primarily a historical, religious, anthropological, and media subject associated with Old Belief, Siberian isolation, subsistence survival, and wilderness life.
Brand decisions
1978
The family declines to leave its remote settlementOtherBackground
Geologists located the family while conducting work in the Abakan Range and established contact with them.
Action taken
The Lykovs chose not to relocate back to ordinary society.
Aftermath
Contact with geologists continued while Agafia later remained at the homestead after the deaths of the other immediate family members.
1936
Withdrawal into the Siberian taigaStrategyBackground
The family believed its Old Believer religious practice was under threat after the killing of Karp Lykov’s brother by a Soviet patrol.
Action taken
Karp and Akulina Lykov moved east with their children and established an isolated settlement near the Yerinat River.
Aftermath
The family remained largely separated from wider society for approximately four decades and became the subject of later journalistic and documentary accounts.
Sources1 sources
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