Voice your opinion!
Lesya Ukrainka is a writer who has become a symbol of Ukraine
Lesya Ukrainka (real name Larisa Petrovna Kosach-Kvitka) was born on February 13 (February 25), 1871 in Novograd-Volynsky (now Zhytomyr region). She died on July 19 (August 1), 1913 in the village of Surami (Georgia). The greatest Ukrainian poetess, writer, translator, cultural figure.
She was born weak and fragile, was almost constantly ill, died at the age of 42, becoming a symbol of Ukraine, her rebelliousness, originality, independence, being on a par with Peter Mohyla,.
9 merits of Lesya Ukrainka to the people of Ukraine.
1. Thanks to her work, Ukrainian literature has taken one of the highest positions in world culture, and Ukrainians and Ukraine have been talked about all over the world, admiring amazing pictures the life of "this great, original, hospitable and at the same time brave, brave people, unconquered by the troubles that Ukrainians had to endure during their long and glorious history."
Lesya Ukrainka is known all over the world. Her works have been translated into many languages. Until now, the collections of poems “On the Wings of Songs”, “Thoughts and Dreams”, “Reviews”, collections of poems “ old fairy tale”, “One Word”, collections of dramas “Boyarynya”, “Cassandra”, “In the Catacombs”, “Forest Song” and others.
2. Lesya Ukrainka sharply parted traditional genres Ukrainian literature. From her pen came brilliant works of an epic nature, stunning dramatic creations, vivid prose works, including journalism. And that's besides poetry.
At the age of 19, she independently compiled the textbook Ancient History for her sisters. Eastern peoples» in Ukrainian. She also translated a lot of N. Gogol, A. Mickiewicz, G. Heine, V. Hugo, Homer and others into Ukrainian.
The new images brought into Ukrainian literature by the writer "came" from different sources, which was also very unusual, and which allowed to significantly expand the boundaries of modern Ukrainian literature. So, a phenomenally erudite girl, who knew many languages perfectly, easily and quite naturally “settled” in Ukraine plots from Ancient Egypt (“In the house of work”), Hebrew history (“In captivity”, “On the ruins”), the period of early Christianity ("Rufin and Priscilla", "Lawyer Martian"), the European Middle Ages ("Robert Bruce", "The Old Tale"), etc.
And it was so harmonious that the readers perceived it as something of their own, native, primordially familiar, especially when romantic heroes works of Lesya Ukrainka, as the personification of the courage and strength of the Ukrainian people, fought without compromise with the vulgarity of tyranny and despotism of those in power. Yes, according to the genre laws of romanticism, the heroes died in many cases, but this was also connected with the writer's own concept of the need for sacrifices for the sake of a common and complete victory.
One of best dramas Lesya Ukrainka "Obsessed" was dedicated to her lover, Belarusian Sergei Merzhinsky, and was written at his deathbed in Minsk in 1901.
3. The main theme of Lesya Ukrainka's work is the national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people, confidence in victory in this struggle. Moreover, in this topic, she acted as an innovator, introducing, in addition to innovative stylistic and genre techniques, new images of fighters for the will, independence, and freedom of Ukraine. All this is clearly seen in early works(the poem "Samson", the poetic cycle "Tears-Pearls", "Slave Songs"), and reached the highest peak of skill in such masterpieces as "Triptych" and "Orgies".
4. The main sources of Lesya Ukrainka's creativity were her own experiences. Thanks to them, unusually beautiful in terms of depth of lyricism, emotional drama and psychologism, works appeared in Ukrainian poetry - from the early cycle "Starry Sky" to "Spring in Egypt" and "From the Road Book" (1910-1911).
5. In addition to romanticism, Lesya Ukrainka created many masterpieces in other literary directions. So,
6. Lesya Ukrainka was one of the first to combine in her work the best traditions of Ukrainian literature with the achievements of modern European poetry. And at the same time, she brought her own innovative genre and stylistic methods and conceptual ideas enriched not only Ukrainian, but also European literature.
7. By creating dramas in the style of antiquity and the Middle Ages, the writer thereby attached her people to the treasures of world culture and at the same time showed the world the originality and uniqueness of Ukrainians. She improved the formal possibilities of Ukrainian poetry, developed the aesthetic concepts of literature, expanded the genre and stylistic possibilities of poetry, prose, and dramaturgy.
8. Lesya Ukrainka became the largest collector of Ukrainian folklore, saving it for posterity, knew about 500 folk songs, wrote a work on folklore "Kupala in Volyn". Her husband, Klimenty Kvitka, recorded a large cycle of folk songs from her voice. By the way, they, Lesya and Klimenty, were the first Ukrainian folklorists who began to record Ukrainian folk songs on a phonograph.
9. Lesya Ukrainka translated into Ukrainian Heine, Byron, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, the poetry of Ancient Egypt, the hymns of the Rigveda, etc.
The creative heritage of Lesya Ukrainka includes more than 270 poems, not counting poems and poetic dramatic works, a dozen and a half stories, the same number of articles, a huge number of translations, a lot of collected unique folk songs, fairy tales, legends, legends of the Ukrainian people.
The girl was born very weak and always looked fragile. In the family, she was affectionately called Zeichka (a thin blade of grass).
I have been sick almost all my life. Not having time to recover from unbearable pain in her leg, having made a successful operation in Berlin, the writer again experienced terrible torment. And in recent years, tuberculosis has been added incurable disease kidneys.
She wrote her first poem (“Hope”) at the age of 9. It was dedicated to Aunt Elena Antonovna Kosach, who was exiled to Siberia for participating in the assassination attempt on the chief of the gendarmes.
At the age of 13, she published 2 books of poetry under the pseudonym "Lesya Ukrainka", which was suggested by her mother.
At the age of 14, Lesya published two translations of Gogol's stories and his first poem, Mermaid.
Lesya and her older brother Mikhail, a future Ukrainian meteorologist and writer (because of their inseparability in the family, they were often called jokingly by the common name - Michelosiye), studied with private teachers.
Lesya's mother, along with the children, went from house to house in the village and collected various songs and ornaments for her collection.
The first music teacher of the future great writer was Aunt Sasha, to whom Lesya retained a feeling of deep gratitude for the rest of her life.
Lesya had phenomenal abilities to languages. She said about herself that, apparently, there is no such sound that she could not pronounce. Fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, French, German and Italian, wrote in Ukrainian, Russian, German and French, translated from ancient Greek, Polish, English, German, Italian and French. She knew Latin well, and in Egypt she began to study Spanish.
It is believed that the first true love Lesya Ukrainka was a Belarusian, revolutionary Sergei Merzhinsky. They met in Yalta in 1897, where they came for treatment (both had tuberculosis).
Merzhinsky died in the arms of Lesya Ukrainka in Minsk from pulmonary tuberculosis. At his deathbed, the girl wrote the poem "Possessed" - one of the strongest in her work. She loved the Belarusian until the end of her days, even when she married Klymentiy Kvitka, who was infinitely devoted to her.
Six years after the death of Sergei Merzhinsky, at the readings of the literary and artistic circle of Kyiv University, the writer meets her future husband, first-year student Klymenty Kvitka, a musicologist and tireless collector of folk songs. Lesya Ukrainka invited him to record songs from her that she knew. So they met, and between them there was a deep mutual affection.
Lesia's mother was categorically against her daughter's relationship with a new friend. She believed that her daughter's poor friend was not "attached" to the well-to-do Lesya out of love. But the writer, to the amazement of her mother, refused her parents' money and went to live with Clement. They soon got married.
Contrary to the assumptions of Ukrainka's mother, her daughter's husband, sincerely loving his wife, sold all his things to ensure good treatment Forest u the best doctors Europe. However, the disease continued to progress ...
Among other heartfelt hobbies of the genius of Ukrainian literature, researchers name the name of Nestor Gambarashvili, a student at Kyiv University, who lodged with Kosachi. She taught him French, he her - Georgian.
And some researchers call the first love of Lesya Ukrainka Maxim Slavinsky - in the future one of the leaders of the Central Rada, the ambassador of the Ukrainian People's Republic in Prague, who was arrested by the Chekists and died in prison.
Biography of Lesya Ukrainka.
Larisa Petrovna Kosach (Lesya Ukrainka) was born on February 13 (25), 1871 in the city of Novograd-Volynsky in noble family descendants of the Ukrainian Cossack elders.
The father of the future classic of Ukrainian literature Kosach Petr Antonovich (1841-1909) came from the nobility of the Chernihiv province. Was a prominent lawyer public figure, in 1901 "for distinction" he was promoted to actual state councilor. In 1897 - marshal of the nobility of the Kovel district. Landowner.
He was very fond of literature and painting. Writers, artists and musicians often gathered in the house of the Kosachs, evenings and home concerts were held.
Lesya's mother, Dragomanova-Kosach Olga Petrovna, came from small landed nobles of the Poltava province. Was famous writer, whose works were published under the pseudonym Olena Pchilka. In addition, she took an active part in the women's movement, published the almanac "The First Wreath".
Uncle (mother's brother), Drahomanov Mikhail Petrovich, is a hereditary nobleman, a well-known publicist, literary critic, folklorist, public figure, scientist - assistant professor at Kiev University, professor at Sofia University (Bulgaria). For a long time lived abroad (in France and Bulgaria), collaborated with Ivan Franko.
Researchers believe that not so much the father and mother influenced the formation of the views of a talented child, receiving a phenomenal education, the development of the creative abilities of the future classic of Ukrainian literature, but her uncle. It was he who had the greatest influence on the worldview of his niece and helped to study many foreign languages, which, in turn, made it possible for the girl to get in touch with the treasury of world literature, reading brilliant creations in original.
In 1876, when Olga Kosach, together with Lesya and Mikhail, were resting in the village of Zhaboritsa, the girl first heard her mother's stories about the Mavka and got acquainted with the Ukrainian folklore. From that moment on, folk Ukrainian legends, life and culture, described in legends, fairy tales and myths, have become one of the main hobbies of Ukrainka.
In March 1879, Elena Antonovna Kosach, aunt Lesya, was arrested for participating in the assassination attempt on the chief of the gendarmes, Drenteln. Later she is sent to Siberia. Upon learning of this, Larisa writes her first poem "Hope".
On January 6 (18), 1881, Lesya caught a bad cold, which was the beginning of a serious illness that lasted until the end of her days.
In the same year, Olga Kosach brings children to Kyiv to study with private teachers. Mikhail and Lesya study under the program of the male gymnasium. Lesya takes piano lessons from Nikolai Lysenko's wife Olga O'Connor.
At the beginning of May 1882, the Kosachi moved to the village of Kolodyazhnoye, which from now until 1897 became their permanent place residence.
In the summer of 1883, Lesya was diagnosed with bone tuberculosis. In October of the same year, Professor A. Rinek operated left hand, removed the bones affected by tuberculosis. The hand was left crippled, so oh musical career Lesya had to forget, even though there were such dreams.
Since 1884, Lesya has been actively writing poetry in Ukrainian (“Lily of the Valley”, “Sappho”, “Red Summer Has Passed”, etc.) and publishes them in Lviv in the Zorya magazine. It was in this year that the pseudonym "Lesya Ukrainka" appeared.
For some time Lesya studied at art school Nikolay Murashko in Kyiv. The picture painted by her with oil paints has been preserved. IN further education received independently, in which her mother actively helped.
In 1891, Ukrainka visited Galicia, and later Bukovina. There she met I. Franko, M. Pavlik, O. Kobylyanskaya, V. Stefanik, A. Makovei, N. Kobrinskaya and many other outstanding artists.
At the beginning of March 1907, Lesya Ukrainka moved from Kolodyazhny to Kyiv, and at the end of March, together with Klimenty Kvitka, she made a trip to the Crimea, where she visited Sevastopol, Alupka, Yalta.
On August 7, 1907, Lesya Ukrainka and Klymentiy Kvitka officially married in the church and settled in Kyiv. On August 21, they go together to the Crimea, where Kvitka received a position in court.
During this period, the writer is very active. She completes dramatic poem"Aisha and Mohammed", completes the poem "Cassandra", on which she began work in 1903. He also sends the completed poem "On the Ruins" to the publication. In September, the poem "Beyond the Mountain of Lightning" was written, work on the works "In the Forest", "Rufin and Priscilla" continued.
In June 1906, Lesya Ukrainka was elected to the board of the Kyiv "Prosvita", where she worked as a library. However, the royal gendarmes refused to open public library, and later arrested the writer. After that, Prosvita itself was closed.
After 1907, due to family circumstances and a progressive illness, the Ukrainian woman was forced to live mainly abroad, devoting free time exclusively for creativity.
The last years of Larisa Kosach-Kvitka's life were spent in the resorts of Egypt and Georgia. Together with her husband, she works on a collection of folklore, actively writes and processes own works. So, in the Caucasus, in a few days he writes the drama extravaganza "Forest Song", and in Last year life she wrote the dramatic poem "Orgy" and a lyric-epic triptych dedicated to Ivan Franko: "What will give us strength?", "The Miracle of Orpheus", "About the Giant".
Upon learning of Lesya's grave condition, her mother arrived in Georgia, to whom Lesya dictated the sketches of her last, unfinished drama, On the Shores of Alexandria.
Lesya Ukrainka died on July 19 (August 1), 1913 in Surami, Georgia. She was buried at the Baikove cemetery in Kyiv.
Perpetuation of memory.
A monument to the classics of Ukrainian literature was erected at the Baikove cemetery in Kyiv.
Also, monuments to Lesya Ukrainka were installed in Toronto (Canada), Moscow, Georgia (Telavi), Baku, Balaklava (Crimea).
Named after Lesya Ukrainka: a boulevard and a square in Kiev, streets in Moscow, Lutsk, Tbilisi, Minsk, Lvov, Odessa, Rivne, Kharkov, Batumi, Brest, Poltava, Yalta, Simferopol, Evpatoria, Sevastopol, Irkutsk, Sochi, Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi , Sumy, Vinnitsa, Kovel, Cherkassy, Gorlovka, Kremenchug, Gadyach, Melitopol, Kopeysk, Pripyat.
In honor of the great Ukrainian writer are also named:
Museums of Lesya Ukrainka are open in Kyiv, Novograd-Volynsky, Kolodyazhny (the museum-estate of Lesya Ukrainka), in Yalta, Georgia.
In honor of Lesya Ukrainka, Ukraine issued a silver coin and a banknote with the image of the writer with a face value of 200 hryvnias.
A number of postage stamps were issued in honor of Ukrainka:
Awarded in Ukraine literary prize named after Lesya Ukrainka is one of the most prestigious.
Some of the works of Lesya Ukrainka were filmed:
1961 - "Forest Song" (film, 1961);
1976 - "Forest Song" (cartoon);
1981 - “Forest song. Mavka (film);
1986 - "The Temptation of Don Juan".
Lesya Ukrainka in social networks.
Documentary film: “Revealing Ukrainian history. Lesya Ukrainian.
How often do Yandex users from Ukraine search for information about Lesya Ukrainka?
To analyze the popularity of the query "Lesya Ukrainka", the Yandex wordstat.yandex search engine service is used, based on which we can conclude that as of January 7, 2016, the number of requests per month was 19,981, which can be seen on the screen:
Since the end of 2014 the largest number requests were registered in March 2014 - 46,381 requests per month.
By the name of her husband, Kvitka, known to readers as Lesya Ukrainka. The future writer was born on February 25 (13), 1871 in Novograd-Volinsky and was brought up in an intelligent family. Lesin's maternal grandfather, Yakov Drahomanov, was a Decembrist, and his uncle, Mikhail Drahomanov, was a very famous publicist, critic, historian, and active figure who was persecuted by the government. The mother of Lesya Ukrainka - Olga Petrovna Kosach, the well-known Ukrainian writer Alena Pchelka at that time - had a huge influence on her daughter, she herself chose her patriotic pseudonym - Ukrainka. Father - Petr Antonovich Kosach - was a man of progressive views, for which he was expelled from St. Petersburg University during his student years.
A favorable environment initially had a positive effect on the girl's abilities. She began to read at the age of 4, and at the age of five she was already playing the piano. And this is not surprising. After all, her family was friends with such "titans" in literature as: Nikolai Lysenko, Mikhail Staritsky, Pavel Zhitetsky and others. Moreover, her mother took care of her daughter's education from the very early years introducing her to the beautiful Ukrainian language. It soon gave results. Unfortunately, these results turned out to be in vain, because. On the feast of the Epiphany of Water (celebrated in winter), Lesya fell into the river and developed a terrible disease - bone tuberculosis.
In the autumn of 1884, the first publication of Lesya appeared in the Lvov magazine "Zorya" - the poem "Konvaliy". The following year, a booklet of translated stories by N. Gogol was published in Lvov, the authors of which were Mikhail and Lesya Kosachi.
In March 1893 again, Lesin's first assembly, "On the Wings of Songs", was released in Lviv, which received commendable criticism.
Lesya was interested in history. At 19 she wrote for younger sister textbook "Ancient history of Eastern peoples". Moreover, she wrote it like a real professional - accessible, concise and interesting. Lesya was also interested in philosophy, tried herself in journalism. Together with her sister Olga, she gave public lectures at Kiev University. I did a lot of self-education. And, probably, that is why she became the most educated woman of the then Europe.
In 1894, Lesya visited Bulgaria, in Sofia with her uncle Mikhail Dragomanov, worked in his library, sorted it, as if she felt imminent death someone close to her.
IN In 1899, Lesin's second collection "Thoughts and Dreams" was published in Lvov, and in April 1902 in Chernivtsi, a book of poetry "Responses" was published. In collaboration with Klymentiy Kvitka, the poetess issued an assembly "Children's games, songs and fairy tales from the Kovel region, Luts region, Zvyagel region in Volyn".
The first and very successful and interesting tragedy Lesia Ukrainka became Kasandra. Inspired by success, the writer also created “Obsessed” and “Victim”, but, unfortunately, when the second collection of “On the Wings of Songs” was published, these dramas were excluded by censorship.
In order to prove to Russian readers that the Ukrainian language does not compromise their language, Lesya translated into Russian the works of I. Frank "At the Bottom" and "Good Earnings", which were published by the Donskaya Rech publishing house.
In 1904 the grandson of Taras Shevchenko (Fotiy Krasitsky), after his sister Katerina, created portraits of the Lesin sisters and the poetess herself.
July 25, 1907 Lesya Ukrainka and Klymentiy Kvitka got married. The husband received a position in the Crimean court in Balaklava and married couple moved there, and eventually to Yalta. It seems that the wonderful maritime climate could improve her health, but the poetess was getting worse. The Berlin professor advised to go to Egypt, but the couple gave the money collected for the trip to organize an expedition, the purpose of which was to record Ukrainian folk dumas.
In January 1909 in Kyiv, the “Blue Rose” was staged, all the money that was managed to be bailed out was sent to the monument to T.G. Shevchenko.
In order to improve her health, Lesya Ukrainka often moved. In 1911. the family ended up in Kutaisi, where the husband received a position. The writer already seemed to feel the approach of death. She sent her archive to her sister Olga, worked to exhaustion on The Forest Song, which she began on July 3 and finished on July 25. The Forest Song was published in Kiev during the life of the poetess, in 1912. The dramas "Stone Cross" and "Orgy" were also written in Kutaisi.
Friends and relatives insisted on the treatment of Lesya Ukrainka, because of this she again visited Egypt, but the trips became torment for her, and the hope for improvement was not justified.
Lesya courageously prepared for her end. In March 1913, she wrote an application to the library of the Scientific Society. Shevchenko to receive her works as a deposit, April 28 at last time visited Kyiv, came to the evening dedicated to her at the club "Family", in mid-April she went back to Kutaisi.
From the voice of his dying wife, Klymentiy Kvitka still managed to record several folk songs. The seriously ill poetess was transferred to Surami, but no one could help her. On July 19, between the first and second hours of the night, she died.
Truna with ashes was delivered to Kyiv. On July 26, 1913, Lesya Ukrainka was buried at the Baikove cemetery. The police did not allow any speeches or songs, and so that no one dared to violate the ban, she gave an escort funeral procession kinnot outfit. Behind the string was a crowd of thousands. Ukraine buried her daughter. The world buried the great poetess.
Lesya Ukrainka (25.02. 1871 - 1.08. 1913)
Poetess, translator, playwright, who wrote in two languages - Russian and Ukrainian. Author of the drama "Stone Master", the play "Blue Rose", numerous poems and poems. She translated into Ukrainian the works of Goethe, Schiller, Heine. Founder of the Ukrainian society of young poets "Pleiades".
... In many of her poems, two words are often repeated: “wings” and “song”. Maybe because her strongest dream has always been to take off, overcoming the shackles of a weak body, and the lines of her poems are filled with soft and sad melodies. native land, wherever she is: under the hot sun of Egypt, the gray and rainy skies of Germany or off the coast mediterranean sea in Greece…
Lesya Ukrainka was born on February 25, 1871 in the city of Novograd-Volynsky, in that part of Ukraine that was part of the Russian Empire, in a family not alien to high spiritual interests: her mother is a writer who worked under the pseudonym Olena Pchilka (her poetry and stories in her native language for children, well known in Ukraine), the father is a highly educated landowner who was very fond of literature and painting. Writers, artists and musicians often gathered in the house of the Kosachs, evenings and home concerts were held. Uncle Lesia - that was her family name and this home name became her pseudonym- Mikhail Drahomanov, who later took care of his niece in a friendly manner and helped her in every possible way, was a famous scientist, public figure, lived for a long time abroad in France and Bulgaria. He made acquaintances with Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, Victor Hugo, was aware of all the latest literary and political events and often replenished his niece's library with parcels from abroad.
Beloved by all, Lesya at first grew up healthy and cheerful. She did not receive a formal education. Her only and rather strict home teacher was her mother, Olga Petrovna. She developed own program education, which was distinguished by breadth and thoroughness, but there was no system in it, and the poetess herself subsequently regretted this shortcoming very much. Father tried to insist on inviting teachers from the gymnasium to Lesya, but how could one argue with the imperious, proud Olga Petrovna, who was used to the fact that only her decisions should be the main ones in Lesya's life?!
Extraordinarily talented, receptive, vulnerable, with a deep, true, musical talent (she began to play and compose small musical pieces from the age of five!) At the age of eight, Lesya, who wrote her first poem, suddenly became seriously ill in 1881. She suffered from unbearable pain in her right leg. At first they decided that she had acute rheumatism, they treated her with baths, ointments, herbs, but everything was useless. The pain passed into my hands.
Doctors finally determined - tuberculosis of the bone. Lesya's musical career was put to rest. After the first, difficult, but extremely unsuccessful, operation, the arm remained crippled! It was then that sadness first appeared in the eyes of a fragile girl. In the future, like a light veil, she will envelop all her work. From now on, for many months of the year, a girl should lie in bed, not do sudden movements experiencing excruciating pain all the time...
The parents didn't give up. They took the girl to the sea, to mud baths and baths, turned to the best doctors, folk medicine, foreign professors in Germany, but all was in vain. The disease, if it receded, did not last long. Lesya now only had to remember her mysterious night walks through the manor park in Kolodyazhny (the Kosachy estate in Volhynia), when she listened, and it seemed to her that she heard the sleepy breath of foliage and grass, saw the mermaid Mavka bathing in a pond, weaving yellow hair into her hair. a white water lily, catching the moonbeams with her hands ....
Later, when her mother told Lesya that the creation of her beautiful drama - the extravaganza "Forest Song" (1911) was influenced only by classical literature, the poetess boldly denied this: “I do not dashingly remember the Volyn forests. Remembering them, I wrote a “drama extravaganza” in their honor and it brought me a lot of joy!” (L. Ukrainka - A.E. Krymsky * October 14, 1911) (* A.E. Krymsky - scientist, philologist and historian - orientalist, big friend L. Kosach, who helped her in processing and recording folk legends and songs, is the author.)
She always tried to find joy in everything. She had an indomitable spirit. Selflessly, at night, I studied languages: Bulgarian, Spanish, Latin, ancient Greek, Italian, Polish, German, not to mention English and French, geography, the history of the East and oriental cultures, the history of art and religions, and for her younger sisters at the age of 19 (!) she wrote a textbook: "The ancient history of the Eastern peoples." Michael Pavlik - Ukrainian writer and a public figure - recalled one of his meetings with the poetess in Lvov in 1891: “Lesya simply stunned me with her education and subtle mind. I thought that she lives only for poetry, but this is far from the case. For her age, this is a brilliant woman. We talked with her for a very long time, and in every word I saw the mind and a deep understanding of poetry, science and life!”
In 1893, in Lvov (Western Ukraine), a thin booklet of her poems “On the Wings of a Song” was published, warmly received by critics and the public. Ivan Franko wrote with admiration about the "miracle of life-affirmation" - the poems of the young poetess, which seemed to have grown out of Ukrainian songs and fairy tales.
“Reading soft and relaxed or coldly resonant writings of Ukrainian men and comparing them with these peppy, strong and courageous, and at the same time, such sincere words Lesya Ukrainka, you involuntarily think that this sick, weak girl is almost the only man in all of Ukraine!” he concluded with bitter humor.
Already in early lyrics readers were delighted by the excellent command of the word, the vivid imagery of the language, the richness of rhymes and comparisons, and, most importantly, hidden power and deep spirituality. Behind sadness and slight sadness, sometimes such wisdom and thirst for life were hidden that those few who knew about the personal drama of the poetess only shook their heads in admiration. I must say that many of the poems of the thin collection almost immediately became folk songs.
In the work of Lesya Ukrainka, the theme of the homeland - free Ukraine - is too noticeable to be ignored. Her uncle, a supporter of the national independence of Ukraine from the Russian Empire, was forced to emigrate abroad, her paternal aunt, Elena Antonovna Kosach, for participating in revolutionary movement was repeatedly arrested and exiled. Even the beloved poetess, Sergei Merzhinsky (they met in the Crimea, in 1897), being mortally ill, he himself participated in the revolutionary movement, distributed leaflets and leaflets. And who knows, maybe it was precisely because of this that loving, but domineering, Olga Petrovna Kosach was so opposed to the rapprochement, and then the romance of her daughter with Sergei Merzhinsky, that this dangerous activity frightened her too much, she knew too well what the passion for thirst could lead to feat and sacrifice, how can she break and wound the heart and soul!
Added to this was the usual selfish maternal jealousy, the fear of losing control and power over the fragile, helpless creature that her daughter always seemed to her.
But when, in 1901, Sergei Konstantinovich Merzhinsky will die of pulmonary tuberculosis, Olga Petrovna will unquestioningly obey her daughter's willful decision to be near her beloved and let her go to Minsk, to him. Merzhinsky will die in the arms of Lesya - Larochka, as he called her - and she, in order to get out of the "apogee of sorrow", will write the lyric drama "Possessed" in one night, using the ancient biblical story. Later, she will say about this work of hers: “I confess that I wrote on such a night, after which, surely, I will live a long time, if I stayed alive then.”
The cycle of her best lyric poems 1898-1900. dedicated to Sergei Merzhinsky. It was published only after the death of the poetess and still amazes with the depth and sincerity of pain and the height of a wonderful love feeling:
"Mouths say: He left without return,
No, he didn’t leave, - the heart believes sacredly.
Do you hear the string ringing and crying?
She rings, trembles with a hot tear.
Here in the depths it trembles in tune with me:
And in songs do I want to get rid of flour,
Or someone will gently squeeze my hand,
Or a heart-to-heart conversation is being conducted,
Or who touches my lips with lips -
The string rings like an echo above me:
"I'm here, I'm here always, always with you!"
(“The mouth repeats.” Translation by A. Ostrovsky.)
Lesya Ukrainka, very modest by nature, selected her lyrical poems for publication very carefully. Much of what was written during his lifetime never saw the light of day, and the academic publications of the 60s of the twentieth century have long been forgotten. Only in her magnificent dramas and poems do we see the brightest reflections - echoes of a passionate, poetic nature, capable of a deep, selfless feeling:
When I die, they will blaze in the world
Words warmed by my fire.
And the flame hidden in them will shine
Lit at night, it will burn during the day ...
(“When I Die.” Translated by N. Brown.)
The inner flame of feeling embraces one of her best creations - the extravaganza drama "Forest Song". The image of a mermaid - Mavka, in love with a simple village guy, for whose sake she left the lake, forest world and came to live with people, is inspired by fairy tales, legends and beliefs heard in childhood in the Volyn region. The poetess wrote it in ten days, almost immediately whitewashed, as if splashing out the accumulated stream of words and images. Clearly here is the echo with magical world Andersen, with his "The Little Mermaid". And with those memories that Lesya plunged into, writing down the next lines of the drama, which she defined with the German word marchendrama - fabulous. “Do you know that I love fairy tales and can invent millions of them, although I have not written a single one yet?” - she admitted in a letter to A.E. Krymsky on October 14, 1911.
"Forest Song" - a story about tragic love the little mermaid, who died in the cruel and cynical world of people, was enthusiastically received by readers, but the stage production of the drama was carried out by the Kyiv Drama Theater named after Lesya Ukrainka only in the middle of the twentieth century, in Soviet time. Since then, she has not left theater posters, as well as another famous play by the poetess - "The Stone Master", created based on the legend of the famous Don Juan, sung by many classics of world literature long before weak woman who wrote in Ukrainian.
Here is what Larisa Petrovna herself said about the creation and design of the drama “The Stone Master, or Don Juan” in a letter to A. E. Krymsky dated May 24, 1912: “I wrote Don Juan! Here is the same one, “worldwide and worldly”, without even giving him any pseudonym. True, the drama (drama again!) is called “The Stone Master”, since its idea is the victory of the stone, conservative principle, embodied in the Commander, over the divided soul of a proud and selfish woman (Donna Anna), and through her over Don Juan, "Knight of Liberty" I don’t know, of course, what happened to me, good or bad, but I’ll tell you that there is something diabolical, mysterious in this topic, it’s not without reason that it has been tormenting people for three hundred years already. I say “tormenting”, because a lot has been written on it, but little has been written of good, that’s why the “enemy of the human race” invented it, so that genuine inspiration and the deepest thoughts break about it. One way or another, but now in our literature there is Don Juan, its own, original in that it was written by a woman, which has not happened before, it seems ... "
The novelty of the writer was not only that she turned out to be the first (and only!) Woman who wrote one "of the masterpieces about a masterpiece", but also that for the first time Don Juan was shown as a vain and selfish person, for the sake of his momentary whims and willing to go to any crime. He is a match for the proud, sarcastically mocking Donna Anna, who recognizes power over people - a gift for the elect, which is valued above wealth and love! But, having despised love, both Don Juan and Donna Anna freeze in the stone stupor of Death. The finale of the drama was so bright and unusual that many of the audience screamed in horror when they saw in the mirror on the stage the image of the Stone Master - the Commander, into which Don Juan turned, dressed in his cloak!
The drama was first staged in 1914 by M.K. Sadovsky on stage Kyiv theater drama and was sold out.
Meanwhile, for the poetess, life played out the last acts of her own drama.
Thirty-six years old, she fell in love again. The person who responded to her feelings with no less sincere and deep affection is Kliment Kvitka, a scientist, musicologist-folklorist, collector of folk legends and songs. Lesya's mother was again furiously against all kinds of relations between her daughter "with some kind of beggar", as she contemptuously called Clement - a soft, reserved, shy person who experienced a deep personal drama in childhood - he grew up with foster parents. But Kvitka became so passionately attached to a thin, sick woman with big sad eyes, who understood him perfectly, that he flatly refused to leave her! And, despite all the anger, Olga Petrovna was forced to agree to her daughter's marriage, however, she continued to poison her life with letters in which she denigrated Clement in every possible way, calling him "a dishonorable man who married the money of the Kosachey-Drahomanovs." Here it was already difficult to justify and understand. Maternal jealousy, like love, is a deep whirlpool!
Young people refused the help of their parents. All the money needed for the treatment of his seriously ill wife, Clement earned himself. They sold everything that could be sold: things, simple belongings, kitchen utensils. They valued only the library.
Lesya was treated in Egypt and Greece, in Germany and Austria. Everything was useless. Incurable kidney disease was added to the aggravated process of bone tuberculosis.
She died in Surami (Georgia) on August 1, 1913. She flew away "on the wings of a song." Her old dream came true: she always wanted to touch the clouds with her hands ...
When does nicotiana bloom?
Song on verses by Lesya Ukrainka (Music by P. Weissburg Performed by Ada Rogovtseva)
Poetry of Lesya Ukrainka
HOPE
Life gave me no share, no will,
Only one, one hope is dear to me:
To see my Ukraine again
And everything that I love in my native land,
Look at the blue Dnieper again,
And it's all the same - let me die even now,
Take another look at the mounds in the steppes,
Breathe in the end about ardent dreams.
Neither share nor will is given by fate,
I am destined to live by hope alone.
Translation by V. Zvyagintseva
I am sending you a green leaf now,
This reminds me from a distance
Groves of our quiet land,
A corner of our sweet Volhynia.
Respond, my friend, quickly -
I haven't heard your words since summer,
And my soul longs for greetings,
Like a rain tree, turning green ...
And do me a favor
I send this request to your muse:
Let, cuckoo forest cuckoo,
She will revive a sad friend!
Yes, I'm sad now, dear,
To a harsh net share,
That imprisoned dreams in captivity,
All my hopes are killing.
The best thoughts and dreams wither,
Like flowers, sometimes in autumn
Blossom for a moment
To look at the sun until frost.
But the winter blizzard will also subside!
I send this request to your muse:
Let the forest cuckoo cuckoo,
She will revive a sad friend!
Translation by V. Zvyagintseva
BAKHCHISARAY
How enchanted is Bakhchisarai.
The moon shines with golden light,
The walls turn white in this marvelous brilliance.
The whole city fell asleep, like a magical land.
Silver trees, minorets,
Like sentries, a sleepy paradise is entrusted;
Among the bushes with a mysterious hello
Splashing fountain in the darkness by chance.
Nature breathes sweet peace.
Above the sleepy silence with a light-winged swarm
Soaring ancient dreams and dreams.
And poplars, nodding their tops,
Slowly whisper, remembering
The gray ones were of old times...
Translation by P. Karaban
FROM THE CYCLE "MELODIES"
The night was both quiet and dark.
I stood, my friend, with you,
I looked at you with sadness.
The night was quiet and dark...
The wind died sadly in the garden.
You sang a song, I sat silently,
The song rang softly in my heart.
The wind stopped sadly in the garden ...
Lightning flashed in the distance.
Something trembled in my heart!
Like being pierced by a sharp knife.
Lightning flashed in the distance...
Translation by V. Zvyagintseva
FROM THE CYCLE "MOMENTS"
Handkerchiefs of melted snow are scattered ...
Rare rain and the sky is lead,
In the timid grass, primroses are slightly visible -
This is spring, this is the crown of happiness!
The sky is deep, the sun is radiant,
Purple and gold of withered branches.
Late roses, all in dew, fragrant -
Autumn messengers ... Maybe mine?
Well, I'm not afraid of the arrival of autumn,
Pleases the stuffy summer end -
If only they would not remind the hour of spring
Rare rain and the sky is lead.
Translation by V. Zvyagintseva
BREATH OF THE DESERT
The desert breathes. Smooth breathing.
The sand lies - calm, golden.
But every ridge and any hill -
Everything about khamsin is a memory here.
Fellah the industrious builds a building, -
Here fleeting foreigners swarm
He will find a hotel and a dense garden.
Fellah is mighty: everything is his creation.
One trouble - oases in the desert
Not for him ... Here he writes patterns
Under the very roof ... The fabric on it sways,
The hot wind glides across the canvas,
It flies... again, again... The desert breathes.
Translation by N. Ushakov
CONTRA SPEM SPERO!*
Away, gray-haired autumn thoughts!
This time of spring is golden,
Are the years young
Hopeless will pass in succession?
No, I will sing and I will not get tired in tears,
I will smile even on a rainy night.
I will hope without hope
I want to live! Away, sad ones, away!
I will sow flowers in the cold,
In a sad field, in a wretched land
Those flowers I am my fuel
And sprinkle with hot tears.
And there will be no cold snow
Ice melt armor
And the flowers will bloom, and it will come
Day of spring and for - mournful - me.
Climbing up the hill with stones
I will endure terrible pain
But even in this difficult time
I will sing a happy song.
I'll miss the whole foggy night,
I will look ahead in the dark,
Waiting for the queens of the night
The guiding star is blue.
Yes! And in grief I will not forget to sing
I will smile even on a rainy night.
I will hope without hope
I will live! Away, sad ones, away!
Translation by N. Ushakov
For all of us who do not remember history and are not familiar with cultural heritage.
Lesya Ukrainka is not Lesya at all, and not at all Ukrainian (she is not Ukrainian at all).
Real name - Larisa Petrovna Kosach. Lesya's (Larisa's) parents, Pyotr Kosach and Olga Dragomanova, were Russians, more precisely, Rusyns. The family of Olga, the mother of Lesya-Larisa, came from Greek roots.
However, Lesya's mother also dabbled in poetry and published under the pseudonym Olena Pchіlka. In principle, the Ukrainian language was not native either for Lesya or Olena, but there was an order for Ukrainization, and customers from Austria paid well for the work. A friend of the family was Ivan Yakovlevich Franko (also a Rusyn?), in fact, he was also in this business. As they say, "nothing personal" And only Lesya's (Larisa Petrovna's) father, Pyotr Antonovich Kosach, was an ardent defender of the Russian language and the unity of all Russians (Great Russians, Little Russians, Belarusians ...). But who remembers this now? After all, in Soviet period remembering this was considered indecent ...
Some details (you can double-check this version if you're interested): http://alternatio.org/articles/item/2073-victim-mother-little-known-Lesya-Ukrainian
And this is Lesia-Larisa's mother. "Noble Maiden" Russian Empire and Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the daughter of a landowner and the niece of the Decembrist Yakov Yakimovich Dragomanov ... http://podgift.ru/mans3_5r.htm
And here is the great-uncle of Lesya (Larisa). Yakov Akimovich (Yakimovich) Dragomanov. Decembrist, i.e. freemason, member of the Society of United Slavs. Although he opposed the Russian state system, he was a true internationalist. And, as follows from the name of the society, he advocated the unity of the Slavs (in any case, such a goal was declared). By the way, he was a very worthy, honest and courageous man and officer. Although on the day of the Senate uprising he was in the hospital, and he was not threatened with hard labor, he honestly confessed his revolutionary convictions and did not deny his participation in the conspiracy ... http://www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_d/dragomanov_jakov.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%F0%E0%E3%EE%EC%E0%ED%EE%E2,_%DF%EA%EE%E2_%DF%EA%E8%EC %EE%E2%E8%F7
Continuing to dig a little deeper around the "apple tree", next to which the dragomanov's "apples" fell, we find this. The Society of United Slavs, it turns out, favored federalization. Those. for the unification of all Slavs in a single large state: “Russia, Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary with Transylvania, Serbia, Moldova, Wallachia, Dalmatia and Croatia. Members of society considered Hungarians to be Slavs. As you can see, Ukraine is not on this list (that is, it is part of Russia). At the same time, within the framework of a federal state, the “Slavs” proposed to clearly define the boundaries of each of the states included in the federation (it was not proposed to divide Russia into Great, Small, New, Red, White, etc. parts of Rus'). The Society of United Slavs was perhaps the most peaceful (although some consider it the most militant) of all the Decembrist communities. Although it joined general plan regicide (some members of this society took an oath), the "Slavs" categorically opposed the armed uprising, because. military revolutions (!) "are not the cradle, but the coffin of freedom, in the name of which they are carried out." However, they were ready to shed their own blood for the freedom of the people...
http://www.hrono.ru/libris/lib_n/nechk15.php
This is not about the origin of poets, but about the origin of the idea of the separation of Russia and Ukraine (and the ensuing bloodshed). Yes, and about the origin of the most modern Ukrainian language, tailored to order ... And what's interesting: neither the customers nor the performers were Ukrainians in the ethnic sense. However, Pushkin also had a hand in the creation of the modern Russian language. But he did not do this at the request of the interventionists, and the idea of a new Russian ("Moskal", i.e. Pushkin!) language does not contain even a fraction of the idea of the need to separate the large Russian Slavic community.
I recommend reading this text, written by Panteleimon Kulish, one of the inventors of modern Ukrainian (still its first version, which bears little resemblance to the chimera used by modern Ukrainian politicians).
Lesya Ukrainka(Ukrainian Lesya Ukrainka; real name Larisa Petrovna Kosach-Kvitka, Ukrainian Larisa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka; February 25, 1871, Novograd-Volynsky - July 19, 1913, Surami) - Ukrainian writer, translator, cultural figure. She wrote in a wide variety of genres: poetry, lyrics, epic, drama, prose, journalism. She also worked in the field of folklore (220 folk melodies were recorded from her voice) and actively participated in the Ukrainian national movement.
Known for her collections of poems On the Wings of Songs (1893), Thoughts and Dreams (1899), Reviews (1902), poems Old Tale (1893), One Word (1903), drama Boyar "(1913), "Cassandra" (1903-07), "In the Catacombs" (1905), "Forest Song" (1911), etc.
Mother - writer O.P. Kosach (pseudonym Elena Pchilka), was active participant women's movement, published the almanac "The First Wreath". Father - lawyer Pyotr Antonovich Kosach (1841-1909), who was very fond of literature and painting. Writers, artists and musicians often gathered in the house of the Kosachs, evenings and home concerts were held. Uncle Lesya (as she was called in the family, and this home name became a literary pseudonym) - Mikhail Drahomanov, who over time took care of his niece in a friendly way and helped her in every possible way - was a scientist, folklorist, public figure, lived abroad for a long time (in France and Bulgaria), collaborated with I. Franko. He plays one of the leading roles in shaping the views of his niece in accordance with his socialist convictions, the ideals of serving the motherland. Lesya thoroughly studied a number of foreign languages, which gave her the opportunity to become widely acquainted with classical works world literature.
Early childhood
Lesya Ukrainka and her brother Mikhail (in the family they were called by a common name - Michelosia) studied with private teachers. Early (at the age of 4) I learned to read. In January 1876, O.P. Kosach with his children Mikhail and Larisa arrived in Kyiv to say goodbye to M.P. Dragomanov before his forced emigration. In the summer of the same year, O.P. Kosach, together with Lesya and Mikhail, rest in the village of Zhaborice. Here Lesya first heard her mother's stories about Mavka. And got acquainted with Ukrainian folklore. Her mother, along with her children, went from house to house in the village and collected various songs and ornaments in the collection of O.P. Kosach.
Childhood
In 1878, Lesya's parents went to world exhibition to Paris, where they met with MP Drahomanov. At this time, Elena Antonovna Kosach, the sister of Larisa's father, comes to take care of the children. Friendship with "Aunt Elya" left a noticeable mark on the life and work of the poetess.
On November 7 (19) of the same year, by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, P. A. Kosach was transferred to work in Lutsk.
In March 1879, Elena Antonovna Kosach, aunt Lesya, was arrested for participating in the assassination attempt on the chief of the gendarmes Drenteln, later she was sent to the Olonets province, and in 1881 she was sent to Siberia for 5 years (Yalutorovsk, Tyumen region, and then to the city of Tyumen). Tyumen). Having learned about this, Lesya at the end of 1879 or at the beginning of 1880 wrote her first poem, "Hope".
In the summer of 1880, Alexandra Antonovna Kosach-Shymanovskaya, aunt Lesya, moved to Lutsk with her two sons and lived with the Kosach family. The reason for the move was the arrest and exile to Siberia of her husband Boris Shimanovsky. "Aunt Sasha" - Lesina's first music teacher. To her, Lesya retained a feeling of deep gratitude all her life.
This year, A.P. Kosach took Mikhail, Lesya and Olga to Kyiv to study under the guidance of private teachers. Mikhail and Lesya began to study according to the program of the male gymnasium, where Lesya takes piano lessons from N. Lysenko's wife, Olga Alexandrovna O'Connor.
At the beginning of May 1882, the Kosachi moved to the village of Kolodyazhnoye, which from now on became their permanent place of residence.
Meanwhile, Lesya and her brother Mikhail live in Kyiv, study with private teachers, study Greek and latin languages. In the summer of 1883, Lesia was diagnosed with bone tuberculosis, in October of the same year, Professor A. Rinek operated on his left hand, removed the bones affected by tuberculosis. In December, Lesya returns from Kyiv to Kolodyazhnoye, her health improves, and with the help of her mother, Lesya studies French and German.
May 29 (June 10), 1882, sister Oksana was born, August 22 (September 2), 1884 - brother Nikolai.
Youth
Since 1884, Lesya has been actively writing poetry (“Lily of the Valley”, “Sappho”, “Red Summer Has Passed”, etc.) and publishes them in the magazine “Zorya”. It was in this year that the pseudonym "Lesya Ukrainka" appeared. A cordial friendship unites Larisa with her older brother Mikhail. For inseparability in the family, they were called by the common name "Mishelosya", later Larisa was nicknamed Lesya in the family.
For some time, Larisa studied at the school of Alexander Murashko in Kyiv. Only one oil painting remained from this period. Later, she had to get her education on her own, with the help of her mother.
She knew a lot European languages, including Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, etc.), as well as ancient Greek, Latin, which testified to her high intellectual level. Elena Petrovna raised her as strong man who had no right to over-express his feelings. The level of her education can be evidenced by the fact that at the age of 19 she wrote for her sisters the textbook "The Ancient History of the Eastern Peoples" (printed in Yekaterinoslav in 1918). She translated a lot into Ukrainian (Gogol, A. Mickiewicz, G. Heine, V. Hugo, Homer, etc.).
Maturity
Having visited in 1891 in Galicia, and later in Bukovina, Ukrainka met many prominent figures Western Ukraine: I. Franko, M. Pavlik, O. Kobylyanskaya, V. Stefanik, A. Makovei, N. Kobrinskaya. The main vector of the socio-political outlook of L. Kosach was formed after her year-round (1894-95) stay with M. Dragomanov in Sofia and the tragic event, which was the death of her uncle for her.
The love story of Lesya Ukrainka often begins with Sergei Merzhinsky. The mystery of Lesya Ukrainka and Olga Kobylyanska (Lesya Kosach's letters have been preserved) helps in understanding Lesya's work Blue Rose (1896).
The forced need for treatment in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Egypt, repeated stays in the Caucasus, Odessa, and the Crimea enriched her impressions and contributed to the expansion of the horizons of the writer.
last years of life
In early March 1907, Lesya Ukrainka moved from Kolodyazhny to Kyiv. And at the end of March, together with K. Kvitka, she made a trip to the Crimea, where, in particular, she visited Sevastopol, Alupka and Yalta.
On August 7, 1907, Lesya Ukrainka and Kliment Kvitka officially married in the church and settled at Bolshaya Podvalnaya Street (now Yaroslavov Val Street), 32, apt. 11 in Kyiv. On August 21, they go together to the Crimea, where Kvitka received a position in court.
At this time, she works a lot in the literary field. On May 5, 1907, the dramatic poem "Aisha and Mohammed" was completed, on May 18, she finally completed the poem "Cassandra", work on which she began back in 1903. May 12 sent in the almanac "From captivity" (Vologda) dramatic poem "On the ruins." The publication was printed to help political exiles. In September, the poem "Beyond the Mountain of Lightning" was written, work on the works "In the Forest", "Rufin and Priscilla" continued.
The last years of L. Kosach-Kvitka's life were spent traveling for treatment in Egypt and the Caucasus. Together with her husband, Kliment Kvitka, she worked on a collection of folklore, intensively processed her own dramas. For news about serious condition Larisa Petrovna's mother came to Georgia. The writer dictated to her the drafts of her never-written drama On the Shores of Alexandria.
She died on July 19 (August 1), 1913 in Surami at the age of 42. She was buried at the Baikove cemetery in Kyiv ( tombstone- bronze, granite; sculptor G. L. Petrashevich; installed in 1939).
Personal life
In 1898, in Zaporozhye, Larisa Petrovna met Sergei Konstantinovich Merzhinsky, a public figure, a graduate of the Kyiv University of St. Vladimir. Merzhinsky lived for some time in Yalta, undergoing treatment for tuberculosis. Four years later (in 1901) Lesya goes to winter Minsk to visit her mortally ill lover. In the difficult winter months, one of her strongest dramas is born - “Obsessed”, Sergei Merzhinsky dies, and Larisa Petrovna puts on black mourning clothes forever.
In 1907, the poetess returned to the Crimea again with Kliment Vasilyevich Kvitka, who later became her husband. A hasty move saved the life of Kliment Kvitka, tuberculosis gradually receded. During their married life, Kliment Kvitka recorded songs that Lesya remembered from childhood. And already after the death of his wife, in 1917, he published a two-volume book "Melodies from the voice of Lesya Ukrainka" in a photoscopic way. Kliment Vasilyevich lived until 1953, outliving his wife by 40 years.
