Ankha Shamin Papers

Ankha Shamin was born Donn Holley on December 18, 1950 in Rochester, New York. He was educated at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies in 1975. As an undergraduate, he became involved in GLBT rights organizations such as the Mattachine Society of New York. He officially changed his name to Ankha Shamin in 1979. Shamin completed a master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988. He was employed as a librarian at the University of Wisconsin—River Falls, Minnesota Technology and Braun Intertec. He later worked as a records manager/senior analyst at Allianz Life. Throughout his life, Shamin was interested in spirituality and the healing arts, most notably massage. He was responsible for starting the first Minnesota chapter of the San Francisco-based Body Electric School of Massage. He organized and led numerous Body Electric workshops in the Twin Cities. He was also a connoisseur of local theatre and a member of the Minnesota Gay Men’s Chorus. Shamin died on April 20, 2012 at his home in Minneapolis.