Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky | |
|---|---|
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| Native name | Михайло Михайлович Коцюбинський |
| Born | (1864-09-17)17 September 1864 |
| Died | 25 April 1913(1913-04-25) (aged 48) |
| Pen name | Zakhar Kozub |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Notable works | Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors Intermezzo |
| Spouse | Vira Ustymivna Kotsiubynska |
| Children | 4, includingYuriy |
| Signature | |
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Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky (Ukrainian:Михайло Михайлович Коцюбинський; 17 September 1864 – 25 April 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 an ethnographicrealism; in the years to come, with his style of writing becoming more and more sophisticated, he evolved into one of the most talented Ukrainianimpressionist andmodernist writers.[1] The popularity of his novels later led to some of them being made into Soviet movies.
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Kotsiubynsky grew up inBar,Vinnytsia region and several other towns and villages inPodolia, where his father worked as a civil servant. He attended theSharhorod Religious Boarding School from 1876 until 1880 and continued his studies at theKamianets-Podilskyi Theological Seminary, but in 1882 he was expelled from the school for his political activities within thepopulist movement. Influenced by the awakening Ukrainian national idea, Kotsiubynsky started his first attempts at writing prose in 1884 with the Ukrainian language storyAndriy Soloveiko (Ukrainian: Андрій Соловейко).[2] This first attempt by the young author was met with skepticism, and he did not make new attempts at writing for several years.[3]
From 1888 to 1890, Kotsiubynsky was a member of theVinnytsia MunicipalDuma. In 1890, he visitedGalicia, where he met several other Ukrainian cultural figures includingIvan Franko andVolodymyr Hnatiuk.[4] It was there inLviv that his first storyNasha Khatka (Ukrainian: Наша хатка) was published.[citation needed]
Later Kotsiubynsky worked as a private tutor in and nearVinnytsia. There, he could study life in traditional Ukrainian villages, which was something he often came back to in his stories including the 1891Na Viru (Ukrainian: На віру) and the 1901Dorohoiu tsinoiu (Ukrainian: Дорогою ціною).
During large parts of the years 1892 to 1897, Kotsiubynsky worked for a commission studying the grape pestphylloxera inBessarabia andCrimea. During the same period, he was a member of the secretBrotherhood of Taras.[5]
In 1898 Kotsiubynsky moved toChernihiv, where he worked as a statistician at the statistics bureau of the Chernihivzemstvo. He also was active in theChernigov Governorate Scholarly Archival Commission and headed the ChernihivProsvita society from 1906 to 1908.[6]
Due to heart disease, Kotsiubynsky spent long periods at different health resorts onCapri from 1909 to 1911. During the same period, he visited Greece and theCarpathians. 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.[7]
At the age of 12, young Mykhailo fell in love with a 16-year-old girl, and in order to attract her attention, he decided to become a "great man", and for this began to read books with special zeal. Under the influence of works byTaras Shevchenko andMarko Vovchok he developed the desire to become a writer.[8]Kotsiubynsky started his literary activities in the genre ofethnographic realism, influenced byIvan Nechuy-Levytsky and populist ideas. Starting with the late 1890s, however, he started evolving into one of Ukraine's most prominent modernist writers.[9]
After theRussian Revolution of 1905, Kotsiubynsky could be more openly critical of the Russian tsarist regime, which can be seen inVin ide (Ukrainian: Він іде) andSmikh (Ukrainian: Сміх), both from 1906, andPersona grata from 1907.Fata Morgana, in two parts from 1904 and 1910, is probably his best-known work. Here he describes the typical social conflicts in the life of the Ukrainian village. Kotsiubynsky's work for the first time in Ukrainian literature engaged in deep study of psychology and included elements of impressionism,expressionism,neorealism and other literary trends of the time.[10]
About twenty novels were published during Kotsiubynsky's life. Several of them have been translated into other European languages.
English translations of Mykhaylo Kotsyubynsky’s works include:
Serving as an ordinary clerk in the statistical department of the Chernihiv administration, Kotsiubynsky always went to work with a flower in a boutonniere.[13]In January 1896, Kotsiubynsky married Vira Ustymivna Kotsiubynska (nicknamed "Deisha"; 1863–1921).[14]
One of his sons,Yuriy Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky (1896–1937), was theBolshevik and theRed Army commander during the 1917–1921 Civil War. Later, he held several high positions within theCommunist Party of Ukraine, but in 1935, he was expelled from the party. In October 1936, he was accused of havingcounter-revolutionary contacts and together with other Bolsheviks have organized a UkrainianTrotskyist Centre. The year after, he was sentenced to death and executed. He wasrehabilitated in 1955.[15] Yuri had a son Oleh.[16] His daughter, Oksana Kotsyubynska, was married toVitaliy Primakov. The fate of his other children, Roman and Iryna, is not known. His niece,Mykhailyna Khomivna Kotsiubynska (1931–2011), was a Ukrainian philologist and literary specialist. She was an honorary doctor of theKyiv Mohyla Academy.
During the Soviet period, Kotsiubynsky was honoured as arealist and arevolutionary democrat. A literary-memorial museum was opened inVinnytsia in 1927 in the house where he was born.[17] 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-Museum of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky in Vinnytsia [uk]. 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.[18]
Several Soviet movies have been based on Kotsiubynsky’s novels such asKoni ne vynni (1956),Dorohoiu tsunoiu (1957) andTini zabutykh predkiv (1967).[17] In 1970Dovzhenko Film Studios made a feature biographical film "The Kotsyubynsky Family".[10]
Media related toMykhailo Kotsiubynsky at Wikimedia Commons
