Mukhins Nikolai Semyonovich was born into a family of a rural teacher. After graduating from the Unzhin school in 1907, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a teacher.

He participated in World War I. After returning from the army, he continued teaching in the schools of Mari El. In 1933, he graduated with honors from the Mari Teacher's Institute and became a teacher of the Mari language and literature, as well as the deputy director of the Morkinsky Pedagogical College. Mukhins wrote textbooks on the Mari language and translated books for extracurricular reading on various subjects. He also participated in a seminar for authors of national textbooks in Moscow.

He began his writing career in 1906, and his first poems were published in the newspaper "Ӱжара". In 1919, his poem "Илышын ойртышыжо" ("Signs of Life") was published in Kazan. He also published several collections of poems, such as "Почеламут", "Стихи", "Эрык саска", and "Плоды свободы".

Mukhins was also known as a playwright, having written more than 10 plays, including "Ушан дурак", "Умный дурак", "Кок тул коклаште", "Меж двух огней", and "Ивук".

He actively engaged in translations, adapting works by authors such as V. Zhukovsky, A. Pushkin, F. Tyutchev, and others into the Mari language. He also translated plays by L. Tolstoy and stories by V. Garshin, and his own works were published in Russian and Hungarian.

Since 1934, Mukhins was a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR. In March 1937, he was arrested on false charges of participating in counter-revolutionary activities. He was repressed and executed on November 11 of the same year. He was rehabilitated in 1956.