# Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda

_Kusunda language speaker (1937–2020)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/gyani-maiya-sen-kusunda
Last updated: 2026-10-18

> Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda was a Kusunda community elder from Nepal. She was presumed to be the last known speaker of Kusunda, a language isolate listed as the critically endangered language in the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Sen-Kusunda could not converse with others in her community in Kusunda despite being fluent as the language fell out of use over time after the nomadic Kusunda community started to settle in villages and married outside the community. She was interviewed widely by linguists and other scholars in an effort to document the Kusunda language.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 1937 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106811256#P569))
- **Died:** 25 January 2020 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106811256#P570))
- **Place of death:** Dang District ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106811256#P20))
- **Citizenship:** Nepal ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106811256#P27))
- **Occupation:** farmer ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106811256#P106))

## Questions

**When was Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda born?**  
Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda was born on 1937.

## Related

- [Dang District, Nepal](https://diginpl.com/places/dang-district-nepal)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyani_Maiya_Sen-Kusunda) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q106811256](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106811256) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda-"Gyani Maiya" (2019 documentary).jpg by Subhashish Panigrahi (CC BY-SA 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gyani_Maiya_Sen_Kusunda-%22Gyani_Maiya%22_(2019_documentary).jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda-"Gyani Maiya" (2019 documentary).jpg — Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0.

## Cite this page

"Gyani Maiya Sen-Kusunda". DigiNepal. Last updated 18 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/gyani-maiya-sen-kusunda. Retrieved 21 October 2026.