Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky
Encyclopedia
Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky , (September 17, 1864 – April 25, 1913) was a Ukrainian
author
whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th century. Kotsiubynsky's early stories were described as examples of ethnographic realism
; in the years to come, with his style of writing becoming more and more sophisticated, he evolved into one of the most talented Ukrainian impressionist
and modernist
writers. In his small novels the author managed to show the deepest feelings of ordinary people that are so understandable but in the same time so fantastic that these novels transform into the illimitable ocean of emotions. Most of the them describe emotions that are inside in any man regardless time and nation that's why they are still popular not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. The popularity of his novels later led to some of them being made into Soviet movies.
, Bar
and several other towns and villages in Podolia
, where his father worked as a civil servant. He attended the Sharhorod
Religious Boarding School from 1876 until 1880. He continued his studies at the Kamianets-Podilskyi
Theological Seminary, but in 1882 he was expelled from the school for his political activities within the socialist movement. Already he had been influenced by the awakening Ukrainian national idea. His first attempts at writing prose in 1884 were also written in the Ukrainian language: Andriy Soloviyko(Ukrainian: Андрій Соловійко).
Municipal Duma
. In 1890, he visited Galicia, where he met several other Ukrainian cultural figures including Ivan Franko
and Volodymyr Hnatiuk
. It was there in Lviv
that his first story Nasha Khatka (Ukrainian: Наша хатка) was published.
During this period, he worked as a private tutor in and near Vinnytsia
. There, he could study life in traditional Ukrainian villages, which was something he often came back to in his stories including the 1891 Na Viru (Ukrainian: На віру) and the 1901 Dorohoiu tsinoiu (Ukrainian: Дорогою ціною).
During large parts of the years 1892 to 1897, he worked for a commission studying the grape pest phylloxera
in Bessarabia
and Crimea
. During the same period, he was a member of the secret Brotherhood of Taras
.
He moved to Chernihiv
in 1898 where he worked as a statistician at the statistics bureau of the Chernihiv zemstvo
. He also was active in the Chernigov Governorate
Scholarly Archival Commission and headed the Chernihiv Prosvita
society from 1906 to 1908.
Fata Morgana, in two parts from 1904 and 1910, are probably his best known works. Here he describes the typical social conflicts in the life of the Ukrainian village.
About twenty novels were published during Kotsiubynsky's life. Several of them have been translated to other European languages.
from 1909 to 1911. During the same period, he visited Greece
and the Carpathians. In 1911 he was granted a pension from the Society of Friends of Ukrainian Scholarship, Literature, and Art that enabled him to quit his job and solely concentrate on his writings, but he was already in poor health and died only two years later.
in 1927 in the house where he was born. Later a memorial was created nearby the museum.
The house in Chernihiv where he lived for the last 15 years of his life was turned into a museum in 1934; the Chernihiv Regional Literary-Memorial Museum of Mykhailo Kotsiubinsky. The house contains the author’s personal belongings. Adjacent to the house is a museum, which opened in 1983, containing Kotsiubinsky’s manuscripts, photos, magazines and family relics as well as information about other Ukrainian writers.
Several Soviet movies have been based on Kotsiubynsky’s novels such as Koni ne vynni (1956), Dorohoiu tsunoiu (1957) and Tini zabutykh predkiv (1967)
.
One of his sons, Yuriy Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky
(1896–1937), was the Bolshevik
and the Red Army
commander during the 1917–1921 Civil War. Later, he held several high positions within the Communist Party of Ukraine, but in 1935, he was expelled from the party. In October 1936, he was accused of having counter-revolutionary contacts and together with other Bolsheviks have organized a Ukrainian Trotskyist Centre. The year after, he was sentenced to death and executed. He was rehabilitated
in 1955. Yuri had a son Oleh.
His daughter Oksana Kotsyubynska was married to Vitaliy Primakov.
The fate of his other children Roman and Iryna is less known.
His niece, Mykhailyna Khomivna Kotsiubynska (1931), is the Ukrainian philologist and literary specialist. She is an honorary doctor of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy.
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th century. Kotsiubynsky's early stories were described as examples of ethnographic realism
Realism
Realism, Realist or Realistic are terms that describe any manifestation of philosophical realism, the belief that reality exists independently of observers, whether in philosophy itself or in the applied arts and sciences. In this broad sense it is frequently contrasted with Idealism.Realism in the...
; in the years to come, with his style of writing becoming more and more sophisticated, he evolved into one of the most talented Ukrainian impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
writers. In his small novels the author managed to show the deepest feelings of ordinary people that are so understandable but in the same time so fantastic that these novels transform into the illimitable ocean of emotions. Most of the them describe emotions that are inside in any man regardless time and nation that's why they are still popular not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. The popularity of his novels later led to some of them being made into Soviet movies.
His Life
He grew up in VinnytsiaVinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
, Bar
Bar, Ukraine
Bar is a city located on the Rov River in the Vinnytsia Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Barskyi Raion , and is part of the historic region of Podolia. The current estimated population is 17,200 .-History:The city was a small trade outpost named Row...
and several other towns and villages in Podolia
Podolia
The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...
, where his father worked as a civil servant. He attended the Sharhorod
Sharhorod
Sharhorod is a city in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. It is located at ....
Religious Boarding School from 1876 until 1880. He continued his studies at the Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kamyanets-Podilsky or Kamienets-Podolsky is a city located on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi...
Theological Seminary, but in 1882 he was expelled from the school for his political activities within the socialist movement. Already he had been influenced by the awakening Ukrainian national idea. His first attempts at writing prose in 1884 were also written in the Ukrainian language: Andriy Soloviyko(Ukrainian: Андрій Соловійко).
Early Work and Research
From 1888 to 1890, he was a member of the VinnytsiaVinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
Municipal Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
. In 1890, he visited Galicia, where he met several other Ukrainian cultural figures including Ivan Franko
Ivan Franko
Ivan Yakovych Franko was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language....
and Volodymyr Hnatiuk
Volodymyr Hnatiuk
Volodymyr Hnatiuk , was a Ukrainian ethnographer, writer, literary scholar, translator, and journalist, and was one of the most influential and notable Ukrainian ethnographers....
. It was there in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
that his first story Nasha Khatka (Ukrainian: Наша хатка) was published.
During this period, he worked as a private tutor in and near Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
. There, he could study life in traditional Ukrainian villages, which was something he often came back to in his stories including the 1891 Na Viru (Ukrainian: На віру) and the 1901 Dorohoiu tsinoiu (Ukrainian: Дорогою ціною).
During large parts of the years 1892 to 1897, he worked for a commission studying the grape pest phylloxera
Phylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
in Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. During the same period, he was a member of the secret Brotherhood of Taras
Brotherhood of Tarasovs
Brotherhood of Tarasovs was an underground student organization. It was established in 1891 during a visit of Taras Shevchenko burial grounds near Kaniv.The founders included Vitaliy Borovyk, Borys Hrinchenko, Mykola Mikhnovsky, Ivan Lypa, and others...
.
He moved to Chernihiv
Chernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
in 1898 where he worked as a statistician at the statistics bureau of the Chernihiv zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
. He also was active in the Chernigov Governorate
Chernigov Governorate
The Chernigov Governorate , also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire, which was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate with an administrative centre of Chernigov...
Scholarly Archival Commission and headed the Chernihiv Prosvita
Prosvita
Prosvita is a society created in the nineteenth century in Ukrainian Galicia for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population....
society from 1906 to 1908.
Writings
After the Russian Revolution of 1905, Kotsiubynsky could be more openly critical of the Russian tsarist regime, which can be seen in Vin ide (Ukrainian: Він іде) and Smikh (Ukrainian: Сміх), both from 1906, and Persona grata from 1907.About twenty novels were published during Kotsiubynsky's life. Several of them have been translated to other European languages.
His death
Because of a heart disease, Kotsjubynskyj spent long periods at different health resorts on CapriCapri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
from 1909 to 1911. During the same period, he visited Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the Carpathians. In 1911 he was granted a pension from the Society of Friends of Ukrainian Scholarship, Literature, and Art that enabled him to quit his job and solely concentrate on his writings, but he was already in poor health and died only two years later.
Honors
During the Soviet period, Kotsiubynsky was honoured as a realist and a revolutionary democrat. A literary-memorial museum was opened in VinnytsiaVinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
in 1927 in the house where he was born. Later a memorial was created nearby the museum.
The house in Chernihiv where he lived for the last 15 years of his life was turned into a museum in 1934; the Chernihiv Regional Literary-Memorial Museum of Mykhailo Kotsiubinsky. The house contains the author’s personal belongings. Adjacent to the house is a museum, which opened in 1983, containing Kotsiubinsky’s manuscripts, photos, magazines and family relics as well as information about other Ukrainian writers.
Several Soviet movies have been based on Kotsiubynsky’s novels such as Koni ne vynni (1956), Dorohoiu tsunoiu (1957) and Tini zabutykh predkiv (1967)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors , also called Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors, Shadows of Our Ancestors, or Wild Horses of Fire – is a 1964 film by the Soviet-Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov based on the book by Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky...
.
Family
In January 1896, he married Vira Ustymivna Kotsiubynska (Deisha) (1863–1921).One of his sons, Yuriy Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky
Yuriy Kotsiubynsky
Yuriy Kotsiubynsky was a Bolshevik politician, activist, member of the Soviet government in Ukraine.-Until the Revolution:...
(1896–1937), was the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
and the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
commander during the 1917–1921 Civil War. Later, he held several high positions within the Communist Party of Ukraine, but in 1935, he was expelled from the party. In October 1936, he was accused of having counter-revolutionary contacts and together with other Bolsheviks have organized a Ukrainian Trotskyist Centre. The year after, he was sentenced to death and executed. He was rehabilitated
Political rehabilitation
Political rehabilitation is the process by which a member of a political organization or government who has fallen into disgrace, is restored to public life. It is usually applied to leaders or other prominent individuals who regain their prominence after a period in which they have no influence or...
in 1955. Yuri had a son Oleh.
His daughter Oksana Kotsyubynska was married to Vitaliy Primakov.
The fate of his other children Roman and Iryna is less known.
His niece, Mykhailyna Khomivna Kotsiubynska (1931), is the Ukrainian philologist and literary specialist. She is an honorary doctor of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy.